


Abandoned

by katychan666



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Eventual Happy Ending, Ghost!Magnus, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, More tags will be added later, detective!alec
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-01-01 00:07:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 152,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12144156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katychan666/pseuds/katychan666
Summary: Alec is a detective, who can see spirits. Although his gift helps him with solving the cases, he still didn’t completely embrace it; he hates dealing with people in everyday life. So, having to see them in their afterlife doesn’t make him too happy. All of that, combined with a recent break up leaves Alec grumpy and in a bad mood constantly. That is until he meets someone, a beautiful young man that happens to be a ghost, who is in a need of a help and with a lot of compromises they find a way to help each other.Grumpy detective!Alec x Flirty ghost! Magnus AUThis is currently being translated into Russian by a very dear friend of mine. You can find the translation here: https://ficbook.net/readfic/6025690





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been watching quite a lot of detective series lately. Also, I’ve been re-watching Ghost Whisperer as I’m waiting for Shadowhunters to come back and last night I came up with this idea. I still don’t know where I’m going with this, I’ll be making this up as we speak. I hope something good comes out from this. It’ll probably pretty long – no promises though.
> 
> Enjoy the first chapter

[](https://imgur.com/LfrEObq)

Alec placed two pictures of their main suspects for the case he and Jace were working on the table and he pressed his lips together as he lifted his gaze up as he looked across the table, where their victim was sitting. Alec gave the woman a weak smile and then slowly slid the photos across the table and leaned closer to her. ''These are our two main suspects for your murder, Miss Jones,'' said Alec and glanced over to Jace, who was now walking up and down the room. ''Your ex-husband and your former boss,'' he then added and he could see that the victim was visibly shook down to her core. “Please take a look at them and please try to remember something,” he then added and looked over to Jace.

The blond one didn’t know what was going on; it was only Alec who could see their victim, who was now a ghost, a spirit. Alec learned about his gift years ago, when he was still a child, but never told anyone else than Jace and Isabelle, his sister. At first it was annoying to see dead people all of the time, but at his new job as a detective it came in handy. They helped him with the case and in a way, Alec was able to help them. However, he never really fully embraced his _gift._ To him it was almost like a curse and it took a while Jace for him to believe that he could actually see spirits.

As the woman was looking at the pictures, Alec looked up at Jace and shrugged. “She’s looking at the pictures,” he said and made a short pause. “But says she can’t remember much, which isn’t really all that odd. When a person dies a sudden and violent death, they’re always confused, but she’ll remember. You’ll see,” he then added and Jace gave him a small nod.

“I hope so, because we need to solve this case and lock up the son of a bitch who did this,” said Jace through his teeth and Alec nodded, feeling sick down to his stomach when he remember the state that they found the poor woman in. “Can you ask her now if she remembers something?” tried Jace again and Alec nodded, turning to the victim, who was now holding back the tears.

“Did you remember something?” asked Alec softly and his heart squeezed when the woman let out a loud sob and then pointed to the picture of her ex-husband.

“I remember,” said the woman and Alec’s breath shook, because he could feel the woman’s feelings. He was sensitive to the spirits’ emotions and he felt his heart shaking when he experienced the woman’s feelings, it was heart-breaking honestly. “John… he killed me,” she said and shook her head.

“She says that the ex-husband did it,” said Alec and Jace nodded.

“I knew it! He’s the only one with the motive!” exclaimed Jace and turned to the chair, which he found to be empty, but knew for a fact that their victim was sitting there. “Thank you very much for the information, Miss Jones. We’ll do everything to lock the bastard up,” said Jace and Alec saw Anna nodding.

“Thank you,” stated the victim as tears were still streaming down her face. Just as Jace was about to ask her another question, Anna suddenly stood up and Alec’s eyes widened, because he could see that her behaviour had completely turned around. Nothing unusual, but really frustrating at the moment since they had more questions for her.

“Miss Jones?” asked Alec softly and Anna smiled.

“My children,” said Anna with a smile. “They’re waiting for me at home,” she said and Alec shook his head. “I need to go home.”

“No, please, wait,” said and was on his legs as well. “If you don’t control your emotions, you’ll let go of your control and re-live your last day,” said Alec and shook his head. “Look, listen to me and try to remember. Your kids aren’t waiting for you at home, they’re with your mother.”

“That’s a lie,” said the woman, who was now panicking. “I’m late, I need to go home. They’re probably worried sick by now,” she then added and when Alec was about to say something, she disappeared through the wall and Alec bowed his head down, Jace curiously looking at him.

“I take that she’s gone now?” asked Jace and Alec nodded, his head still bowed down in disappointment. “Don’t worry, now we know who did it,” said Jace and gave his friend a little smile.

“Good luck proving that to the judge,” said Alec and sighed. “He has an alibi, his girlfriend vouched for him that she was with her at the time our victim was killed,” said Alec then and sighed. Sure, the girlfriend was probably lying, but good luck proving that as well.

“I know,” said Jace, who was just as equally worried. “Look, I’ll go pay the ex-husband another visit and question him again. Maybe his story will change a bit when I mention that we have an eyewitness to the murder,” said Jace and Alec sighed, shaking his head.

“A ghost?” asked Alec. “That’s your eyewitness?”

“Well,” said Jace, who put on his leather jacket and took his car keys. “He doesn’t have to know that, does he? Let’s just call it a bluff and see if his tongue gets untied,” said Jace.

“Good luck,” said Alec and shrugged.

While Jace was off to questioning the man, Alec decided to take care of the mess around his desk. As he was cleaning the papers and other mess around, he had an eerie feeling that someone was watching him, but then again, it wasn’t so odd. The office was full with other detectives, but at the same time, it didn’t feel like a human was watching over him. Sighing, Alec sat back down once he was done with tidying up his work space and then took his mug into his hand, which was filled with, now cold, coffee. He didn’t mind it too much and took two sips of it, turning to his computer and decided to take care of a few things which were connected to the current case.

As he was doing that, he got that feeling of being watched again and shivers ran up his spine as he looked across the room and saw a young man sitting in the waiting room, playing with his hair and Alec couldn’t help but to stare. His spiked up hair and his glittery make up caught Alec’s attention first and he had to remind himself to stop staring when he saw that the man was looking around and when they locked their eyes, Alec knew that he screwed up. He thought that the other would come closer, but once Alec saw that he wasn’t coming, he allowed himself to steal a few more glances at the gorgeous man.

He had a perfect sun-kissed skin and his nails were painted as well. He was wearing pretty unique clothes and even though they were something that Alec wouldn’t find himself wearing anytime soon, he had to admit it that he liked how they looked on him. The man was perfect in every aspect possible; totally Alec’s type. There was just one problem; he was a ghost and Alec shook his head. He then looked back up to take another look at the mysterious stranger, but was disappointed when the chair was empty. Sighing, Alec went back to work and almost had a heart attack when he saw now the man sitting on his desk as he looked back up.

“For the love of God,” stammered Alec and let out a small yelp.

The ghost’s eyes widened when he saw that the detective could see him and wasn’t just imagining things earlier when he caught Alec stealing glances at him. Overjoyed, Magnus grinned and weight lifted off of his shoulders. Finally, there was someone who would be able to help him. After weeks of walking among the living, he finally found someone who saw him! Plus, he was a detective… and a very good-looking one on top of that.

“You can see me!” said Magnus overjoyed and Alec narrowed his eyes. Maybe it would be for the best if he pretended not to see him. Some ghosts could be a pain in the ass and usually he pretended not seeing them if they weren’t somehow connected to the cases. It sucked enough that he had to deal with living people, but to be dealing with them in their afterlife as well? No thank you.

“Where was I?” asked Alec and looked down at the file, pretending not to see the guy sitting on top of his desk. “Oh yeah!” he said, talking to himself and Magnus angrily huffed, narrowing his eyes.

“Stop pretending like you can’t see me!” said Magnus. “Come on, don’t be an ass and help me out, pretty please?” tried Magnus and rolled his eyes when Alec continued on typing on his computer. “Detective, come on,” he said and pouted. “I could see you checking me out sooner,” he said and extended his leg out, touching Alec at the process, who wrinkled his nose when he felt something cold on his knee. He hated it when ghosts touched him, it was a cold and slimy feeling. Not comfortable at all.

“Stop it,” whispered Alec and Magnus perked up when he saw that he was talking to him.

“I was right, you can see me!” said Magnus happily and waggled his eyebrows when Alec looked up at him and groaned.

“Not really,” said Alec stubbornly. “I see nothing.”

“Okay, now you’re just being ridiculous,” said Magnus angrily. “You’re clearly talking to me!” he stated stubbornly and his anger made the file on Alec’s desk fly across the room and land against the wall, making other people turning his way. Alec gritted his teeth, apologised to everyone and went to pick up the file. “I did that?” asked Magnus and Alec nodded.

“Can you please stop?” asked Alec. “You’re attracting an unwanted attention to us.”

“Will you help me?”

“No,” said Alec, but almost had a change of heart when Magnus gave him a sad, puppy-eyed look. “I just,” stammered Alec. “I’m busy with other things. Can’t you just go harass someone else?” asked Alec quietly and Magnus arched an eyebrow.

“You know that I’ve never thought about that?” asked Magnus sarcastically. “I mean such a thought never crossed my mind, how could I be so stupid?” asked the ghost. “I _tried_ getting help, but so far, you’re the only one who can see me,” he stated. “I thought that it would be fun having you helping me out since you’re hot,” said Magnus bluntly and Alec felt his cheeks heating up. “But now I’m not sure anyone. You’re an asshole.”

“Well, I’m glad you came to your senses,” said Alec and then arched an eyebrow. “You may leave now.”

“Screw you,” said Magnus angrily and disappeared, or so Alec thought, because in reality Magnus kept hanging around throughout the entire day.

Alec might had refused to help him at that time, but Magnus was determined to find out a way to get the detective to help him out. He knew that somewhere deep inside, he must’ve been a good person. He saw how he helped that woman earlier, he was a good person. He just probably needed some time to open up to people. When the time for Alec to go home came, Magnus perked up and grinned when he learned where Alec lived. Luckily, he knew where that was and headed straight there, determined to wait for Alec in his apartment.

Alec’s apartment was small and Magnus was appalled by the way the detective decided to decorate it; there was no décor in it almost and he felt sorry for the man. He was determined to put some colour into the man’s life, because the empty, white walls looked sad. Because Magnus had been a ghost for a couple of weeks now, he learned how to move a few objects without actually touching them, so the first thing that he did was switch the lights on, that taking out a lot of energy from him, so he made his way to Alec’s bed and laid down.

When the detective returned back home, he narrowed his eyes because he could see that the lights were switched on. He remembered switching them off before leaving for work that morning! Maybe someone broke in? Preparing for the worst, Alec pulled out his gun and pulled on the doorknob, but then his eyes widened because his door was still locked. He quickly unlocked the door and stepped inside, still cautious. However, he could see that the apartment didn’t appear to be touched in any way. Because of this, he put his gun away and headed for the bedroom, almost having a heart attack for the second time that day when he saw Magnus laying on his bed.

“Hello there, roomie,” said Magnus and playfully waggled his eyebrows. “Want to join me in bed?” asked the ghost then and Alec cursed loudly.

“You followed me back home?” asked Alec.  “And what do you mean by ‘roomie’?”

“Well, I’ll be living here until you help me get into the light, so,” said Magnus and grinned.

“No, no, no, no, no,” said Alec and shook his head. “Get out!”

“No can do,” said Magnus and sat up onto the bed. “Come on, help me out and I’ll help you,” said Magnus, Alec frowning. “Oh don’t look at me like that. You clearly need my help, I mean have you seen the place you live in? It’s no wonder you’re so grumpy, you need to put a bit more of a colour into your apartment. It brings good energy and-”

“I don’t need any of the colour or… good energy for that matter. I’m perfectly fine the way I am, you don’t even know me,” said Alec stubbornly, because he knew that Magnus was right. He was grumpy a lot lately, but it hadn’t been because of the lack of colour in his apartment or life for that matter. He had just had an awful breakup a few weeks ago and since then he had been always in a bad mood.

“And yet I can read you like an open book,” said Magnus playfully.

“Get out, please. I don’t need a ghost living with me,” said Alec angrily and showed Magnus the door. “Go home and stay away from me,” he then added, not meaning to sound so angry, but he couldn’t help himself. He hated it when strangers assumed things like that of him. It was even worse, because Magnus was right.

Magnus was about to say something playful again, but when he saw the look in the detective’s eyes, he knew that the other wasn’t joking around and meant what he said. Magnus knew at that time that he pushed things too far and he bowed his head down, panic setting in and Alec could feel it. “Please don’t throw me out,” said Magnus with a small voice. “I don’t know where else to go. Besides my name, I can’t remember anything else,” he then confessed and Alec cursed, because the ghost looked crushed. Behind that mask of playfulness hid something darker was what Alec could tell. He couldn’t just send him away looking like that. Alec hated himself for giving in so easily, but he would hate himself more if he would just send the other away.

“Fine, I’ll help you out,” said Alec painfully slowly and Magnus’ face brightened up. “First tell me your name.”

“Magnus.”

“I’m Alec,” said the detective slowly and Magnus only nodded.

“Detective Lightwood, right?” asked Magnus and Alec arched an eyebrow, not knowing where Magnus was going with that. “That sounds so sexy,” he then added and Alec groaned and rolled his eyes, but couldn’t deny the blush creeping upon his face. “Thank you for thinking it over. I promise to… tone it down a bit,” he then promised and extended his hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah,” said Alec and stared down at Magnus’ hand. “There’s no way I’m touching _that_.”

“Fine,” said Magnus and rolled his eyes, but didn’t let Alec’s grumpiness crush his good mood. “So, how does this work? You helping me?”

“We’ll discuss that tomorrow, I’m too tired to be dealing with that now,” said Alec and went into the kitchen, Magnus behind him, sitting on top of the counter as he watched Alec preparing himself dinner. Alec let out an annoyed groan when Magnus was watching over his every little move and he looked at him. “Do you have to stare at me like that?”

“I can’t help it,” said Magnus. “Now that I have a handsome detective working for me,” he joked and Alec sighed, but didn’t make a comment about it. “Besides, I miss food, so watching it makes things easier,” confessed Magnus and pouted. “Being a ghost sucks.”

“Yeah, I bet,” said Alec softly this time. “Can you remember how you… you know?”

“No,” said Magnus softly and followed Alec to the table. “I was hoping you could help me remember.”

“I’ll do my best,” said Alec and sighed. “But we need to set some boundaries if you want me to help you.”

“Okay?”

“First off, you don’t follow me to work. Second, you stop with the inappropriate comments about me and third, you stop digging into my private life, understand?” asked Alec and Magnus only nodded, not really knowing what Alec meant by inappropriate comments. His little compliments from before? He didn’t know why that bothered Alec, he was clearly checking him out before.

“Sure, sure, Mister Grumpy,” said Magnus and grinned. “Thank you,” he then said softly and Alec shrugged.

“Thank me after I’m able to give you some help.”

“This, just talking to you is already huge,” said Magnus. “After weeks of being invisible, finally someone sees me,” he then said and Alec gave him a compassionate look when he could feel Magnus’ sadness.

“Yeah,” said Alec. “I’ll also try to not be so… grumpy as you put it,” he said and gave Magnus a little smile.

“It’s a deal!” said Magnus happily, thankful that he was able to finally find someone who would save him from the darkness in his heart and bring some light into it.


	2. Chapter 2

Alec woke up the next morning feeling awfully tired and he sighed as he got into a sitting position; he didn't get a good night sleep and he knew that it didn't mean anything good. He was already constantly in a bad mood, so lack of sleep wasn't going to really help him. Luckily, there was Jace to keep him grounded and not to go into a full-grumpy mode as his partner liked to call it. Also, Alec knew very well who to blame for his lack of sleep; his new ghost friend, Magnus. Alec groaned when he remembered the last night, even though Magnus promised to keep boundaries between them, he didn't stop talking and went on and on about random things. On one hand, Alec couldn't blame him. He knew how lonely he must've been, so having someone to talk to had to be a big deal.

Where was he, anyway? Alec got up into sitting positing, feeling groggy and he frowned, because he couldn't find any signs of Magnus to be lingering around his place. He then groaned and went through his hair with his fingers and pressed his lips together. That wasn't so weird, right? Alec didn't know whether ghosts slept or not, probably not, so he must've gone out while he was asleep. Peace and quiet then. Lovely. Having a stalker ghost didn't sound very pleasing to be honest, so he was kind of glad that Magnus decided to give him some space.

How the hell was he supposed to help him? He only knew his name, but nothing else. He didn't have his last name, nothing. Maybe if he went to the morgue and ask there if someone matching his descriptions passed away in the past few weeks? Alec nodded to himself that could possibly work assuming the man was from New York. If he wasn't, then well, Alec was fucked, so to speak. A part of him still regretted his decision of helping Magnus, but at the same time, he couldn't say no to the man. He could sense sadness, regret, hatred, loneliness deep within him and he was broken. So whatever was wrong, he was hiding behind a mask and somehow Alec would have to break it down. Great, thought Alec completely unamused. How was he supposed to do that?

All of that thinking so early in the morning started giving Alec a headache, so he just pushed those thoughts away for the time being and decided to take a shower, because taking one so early in the morning usually helped with his bad mood. Also, Magnus was nowhere to be seen, so he'd have time for himself to enjoy himself in there. He stripped down of all his clothes and stepped under the running water, smiling as the warm water came in contact with his skin, washing away his bad mood.

Darkness was surrounding Magnus, he didn't know where he was and panic started setting in again as he turned around himself, only to find more darkness on the other side of him. He felt cold, scared, lonely. So alone. Completely abandoned. He didn't know where he was and that scared him. He let out a scream, but nothing happened, he was completely alone with his fear and cold darkness surrounding him. It took him a few moments to take in a few deep breaths and he managed to calm down a little bit.

He was going to be alright, nothing could hurt him now. Yesterday he met a man, he remembered, someone who would be able to help him. Detective Lightwood. A grumpy man. Magnus chuckled when he remembered the grumpy groans and unamused comments from yesterday, the darkness around him gradually disappearing. He followed him back home, he remembered. Magnus could remember that he watched Alec fall asleep and then... Then what? He lied down next to him and fell asleep as well? But he was a ghost, ghosts didn't sleep. Right? Magnus was so sure, but just as he was about to panic again, he shot up into sitting position and let out a deep sigh as he suddenly found himself on a tall bridge, not knowing how he could there. Or why.

Magnus looked around himself; he could recognise the place, he was still in New York. Yet, he had no recollections of how he wounded up on that bridge. Well, it didn't matter anyway. He looked around again and then let out a loud gasp as a young man stepped right through him. He still didn't get used to that feeling and he saw that the man started looking around, because he could feel him. However, Magnus didn't have the time to stay there and he decided to head off to Alec's apartment; his presence had to be missed by then and in the next second, he was standing in Alec's apartment, which appeared to be empty. Or so he thought until he heard the shower running and a devious smile spread across his face.

Magnus stepped through the wall and whistled playfully when he saw that Alec was still in the shower. He promised not to push things too far, but he couldn't really help himself. Messing around with people like Alec was always a joy, because their reactions were priceless. So because of this, he stuck his head inside of the shower and his eyes widened. Alec was turned away from him, shampooing his hair and Magnus grinned when he could enjoy the view of Alec's broad shoulders, his back and then, of course, his ass. The running water down Alec's perfect body made the detective that more irresistible.

“Damn, detective, you have an amazing body,” said Magnus and Alec screamed on top of his lungs when he turned his head around and saw only Magnus' head inside of the shower. “Can I join you in there? I hear the view there is amazing, so I'd love to take a closer look at it.”

“Magnus!” yelled Alec, who was caught off guard and almost fell onto the wet floor. He then angrily turned around, but then remembered that he was still very much naked and he quickly covered himself up as much as he could. Magnus' little whistle made Alec's blood boil with anger.

“Oh, mother nature was certainly generous when creating you,” teased Magnus and waggled his eyebrows as his eyes slid down Alec’s body. “Oh, you don't need to cover up for me, as I said, I'd love to-”

“Get out!” snapped Alec, his face red with both anger and embarrassment. Magnus listened to that, but didn't leave the bathroom and Alec's annoyance grew when he could hear the ghost's little snickers coming from the outside the shower. Alec quickly rinsed his body with water and then grabbed the towel, drying himself up, wrapping it around his waist before he stepped out of the shower, Magnus sitting on the sink, waiting for him.

“Oh, you're still wet,” said Magnus playfully and Alec, who had it enough, grabbed the shampoo bottle and threw it into Magnus' direction. That didn't do much, because the bottle flew right through Magnus and ended up making a huge mess in the sink since Alec forgot to close it. “You're really bad at this. I'm a ghost, remember? Things go through me, detective.”

“Shut up,” said Alec and huffed under his breath, stepping to the sink and watched the mess that he made with horror in his eyes.

Magnus stepped next to him, placed his arms against his hips and started shaking his head in disappointment. “Look at the mess you made,” said Magnus and clicked with his tongue. “You'll have to clean that up, you know right?”

“Yes!” said Alec and glared at Magnus. “I don't need you to remind me that.”

“Lovely,” said Magnus and grinned. “While you take care of this, I'll go ahead and pick out an outfit for you,” said the ghost happily and Alec just watched how Magnus disappeared through the wall, cursing. He should've said no; he didn't know what he was getting himself into. However, as annoyed as he was, after weeks of silence and coming back to an empty apartment, it felt nice knowing that he wasn't alone anymore. If only his new 'roommate' wasn't so annoying.

 

Magnus, who was now in Alec's bedroom, stepped inside of the closet and when he saw Alec's clothes, the door flung open. Magnus considered himself to be fashionably aware even in his afterlife, so seeing the sad clothes hanging in the closet made his heart crumble and he shook his head. “Look at this mess,” said Magnus and sighed. “It's no wonder that he's so miserable all of the time, his clothes are sad looking as well,” he then added and started going through Alec's clothes, in the end deciding on a red sweater. He didn't like it, but at least it wasn't grey or blue.

“Get away from my closet,” said Alec and groaned as he stepped closer to Magnus, wearing his underwear now. “Third rule, remember? Don't snoop around my apartment and dig through my personal life.”

“Oh, shush,” said Magnus and quieted Alec down. “Now then, I have good and bad news for you my dear,” said the ghost and Alec sat down onto his bed and arched his eyebrow.

“This should be good,” said Alec. “Well, do tell.”

“The good news are that I finally found something for you to wear,” said Magnus and pointed to the red sweater, Alec shaking his head. Isabelle gave him that one and he didn't like it; it made him look like a giant strawberry. “But the bad news are that we'll have to burn all of your other clothes. There's nothing wearable in here,” said Magnus and smirked when he saw the expression on Alec's face.

“No one will be burning anything,” said Alec and folded his arms on top of his chest. “And what's wrong with my clothes? They're subtle and elegant,” stated Alec stubbornly. “Much better than what you're wearing. Your clothes are way too flashy.”

“You're calling that a subtle and elegant look?” asked Magnus as he saw one of the sweaters up close and grinned when he saw that it was pretty worn out already. When Alec saw the sweater Magnus was looking at, his eyes darkened with hurt and anger, because that sweater wasn't his and he groaned.

“We can burn that one,” said Alec quietly and Magnus gave him a curious look.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing,” said Alec and then sighed, remembering that he promised to Magnus to stop being such a pain in the ass. “So, you want me to wear this?” asked Alec, unsure, Magnus quickly nodding happily. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

“Well, alright then,” said Alec and put the sweater on.

* * *

That morning, Alec was running late for work. It was all Magnus' fault, who in the end decided to follow him to work, even though they had agreed that he would wait him somewhere else. But since Alec was so late he didn't have the time, nor the energy, to explain it to Magnus why it was a bad idea if he came with him to his work. Jace was already waiting for him at his desk, ready to tell Alec that they had a new break in their case of the murdered woman, but that was put on hold when he saw what Alec was wearing.

“Alec, what in the world are you wearing?” asked Jace and started laughing out loud when he saw his partner. Alec gave him an unamused look, which was followed by a roll of his eyes and more of Jace's laughter. “The Christmas came early. Oh Santa, please I hope I get something nice for a gift. I've been a good boy all year,” went on by saying Jace and Alec wanted to slap him silly.

“Shut up,” said Alec and sat down.

“Then why are you wearing this thing?” asked Jace and Alec's cheeks burned with embarrassment. “I thought we both agreed that this thing is hideous,” he then added and Alec just wanted to disappear into thin air.

Magnus narrowed his eyes when he saw the blond idiot laughing at Alec's choice of clothes and he felt offended; he was the one who picked out his clothes after all. “Who is this, Alec?” asked Magnus annoyed and walked closer to Jace. “He looks like a douche.”

“Oh he is,” said Alec. “That's Jace, my partner... sadly,” said Alec and Jace quickly straightened himself up and started looking around to see who Alec was talking to. When he couldn't see anyone, he came to the conclusion that Alec was talking to a ghost and he stopped laughing.

“Who are you talking to?” asked Jace.

“Didn't you hear? I have a new roommate,” said Alec, his tone flat. “The most obnoxious person on this planet, literally. Oh, and he's a ghost,” he said and Jace narrowed his eyes. “His name is Magnus and I'm supposed to help him get into the light,” said the detective and Jace only nodded.

“So... he's living with you?”

“He followed me back home yesterday and refuses to leave,” said Alec and was looking straight at Magnus, who was now laying on top of the desk, playing with his earing.

“Good job, buddy,” said Jace and snickered. “You've got yourself a stalker.”

“I am not a stalker,” said Magnus, offended and gave Jace a nasty look.

“You're literally the textbook definition of what a stalker is,” said Alec to him and Jace laughed again, Magnus narrowing his eyes. He didn't like the blond detective very much.

“What's he laughing for?” asked Magnus and went closer to Jace. With amusement on his face, Alec leaned back in his chair and sipped on coffee that Jace had brought him. Jace, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on. “I think that all of that bleaching of his hair must’ve killed off his brain cells,” said Magnus stubbornly and Alec almost chocked as he took a sip just as Magnus said that.

Jace arched an eyebrow and looked around. “What did he say?”

“Nothing,” said Alec, but the smile on his face said otherwise.

“And what's up with that haircut?” complained Magnus, Alec's laughter growing louder.

“Shh,” said Alec. “He takes great pride in his hairstyle.”

“Seriously? It looks more like a bird's nest to me than a hairstyle,” said Magnus, his smile growing when he saw a wide smile spreading across Alec's face again. It suited him; a lot more than the frowning.

“Alec, what did he say now?” asked Jace, who had a feeling that the ghost was now making fun out of him.

“He,” said Alec, holding back his laughter. “Is impressed with your hair, he wants to know your secret for styling it,” said Alec and burst into laughter again when he saw Magnus snickering behind Jace.

“Oh, sure, I’m sure that he is,” said Jace sarcastically, quickly fixing his hair. Unsure of what was wrong with his hair, Jace quickly disappeared to the bathroom to have a better look at the mirror, Alec's loud laughter being heard all the way to the bathroom. Even though Jace was kind of annoyed, he felt weight lifting off his chest when he heard Alec laughing like that again. He'd rather have Alec and his new ghost friend making fun of him than to listen to Alec's loud sobs after the last guy broke his friend's heart. Alec's last break up was messy and awful, it took a huge toll on Alec.

“Okay, time to get serious,” said Jace and went back to Alec, who was now chatting with, to him invisible, Magnus. “You two done messing around?” asked Jace and Alec looked at Magnus, who had a tiny smile on his face. When Alec realised that he was smiling like an idiot back at the ghost, he quickly made the smile disappear and he nodded.

“Yes,” said Alec. “So tell me, what information were you able to get from the ex-husband?”

As Alec was listening to Jace, Magnus kept his distance, but didn't let his eyes wander away from Alec for even a second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a lot of fun to write, haha.  
> I hope that you enjoyed reading it. Thank you for all of your comments, I appreciate it a lot ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: descriptions of child abuse. Not very graphic though.

Alec was coming back from work sooner than he intended that day, but he decided to take a half of a day off. He and Jace had just solved the case they've been working on for months, finally the ex-husband admitting to killing his wife; Miss Jones. The woman was there when the man was arrested and Alec couldn't be happier for the victim; he could sense her emotions. Before she was lost, miserable, but now, she was happy because justice had been served and now her killer was going to be rotting in prison for the rest of his life. Joining him would be his current girlfriend as well, because she was an accomplice to the murder. For solving the murder, Jace invited him drinking out, but Alec refused, saying that he’d rather spend time with someone else and Jace knew all too well that Alec was in a hurry to get home because Magnus was waiting for him there.

It had been a week, a bit more since Magnus stepped into Alec’s life and he had to admit it that he slowly stopped disliking the obnoxious ghost and he was slowly starting to grow on him. Somehow he had gotten used to his stupid little remarks and comments and in the end even agreed to go shopping for some new clothes with Magnus, throwing some of the old ones away, his ex-boyfriend’s sweater first thing on the list that had gone to trash. Other clothes were donated and Magnus was overjoyed. However, since he agreed to go shopping with Magnus and for allowing him to stay at his place, Magnus had to promise him not to follow him to work again. He was way too distracting, so even though Magnus had a lot to say in his defence, he agreed to stay back at home.

While Alec was doing great at his work place, he didn’t make any progress with Magnus’ case at all. With Magnus not being able to remember anything at all, Alec found himself in a dead end. He tried going through some of the lists to see if someone named Magnus had been found dead recently and even though the name matched, the description didn’t. All of the found men were way too old to be the correct Magnus and Alec found himself to be in a dead end. Alec even went as far out to have Clary, the sketch artist and Jace’s girlfriend, to sketch Magnus on a piece of paper and even with Jace’s help, he wasn’t able to find out who Magnus was. That worried him, but it didn’t seem to worry Magnus, who appeared to be having the time of his life in his apartment. Alec knew that something more had to be hiding back that smile, yet, he didn’t know how to get Magnus to open up to him more if he didn’t remember anything. If memory loss had been so bad, Alec could only imagine what kind of a horrible death this poor man had to suffer.

Alec sighed and then shook his head when he found himself standing in front of his apartment. He frowned, because for some reason Magnus didn’t decide to switch on the lights that day. Alec shrugged and then unlocked the door, stepping inside and locking the door again, hanging his jacket onto the coat hanger, throwing his bag with his laptop and other files onto the couch, looking around the apartment to see if Magnus was hanging out somewhere around. He was in a genuinely good mood and he wanted to share his good news with Magnus, maybe even celebrate with him the solving of the case in some kind of a way. It was true that Magnus was a ghost, but they could work around that.

“Magnus?” asked Alec and then headed to his bedroom, because he knew that Magnus liked hanging out there, but the frown in between his eyebrows deepened when he couldn’t find him there. Alec felt his heart dropping just a little bit and he sighed. Magnus was a ghost, he could be anywhere he wanted. Alec knew that there wasn’t anything that he could do, but he could still feel that annoying feeling of loneliness creeping back into his heart.

Alec went back into the living room and then perked up when he heard something coming from the kitchen. The detective stiffened up, but then his eyes widened when he heard soft sniffles and muffled sobs, not wasting any more time. He looked around the kitchen and saw nothing, his heart beating faster again when he heard another soft sob behind him, turning around, only to find nothing again. What he was dealing with was a distressed ghost; it was usually then that they didn’t want to be seen. Or couldn’t. Alec still didn’t know how everything worked and he cursed, feeling creeps going up his spine.

Currently he hated his gift for seeing ghosts, it was creeping him out that he couldn’t see the ghost properly. To feel less creeped out, Alec moved to the light switch, but just as he switched it on, it was switched off again on his own and Alec cursed. Someone clearly didn’t like the light too much. “Help me,” suddenly said a voice and weight lifted off of Alec’s chest, recognising it. It was Magnus.

“Magnus, oh thank God,” said Alec and then took in a deep breath. “What happened when I was away?” tried Alec, but received no answer. He nervously chewed on his lower lip and tried again. “Why are you hiding from me? Show yourself to me. You can trust me, come on.”

“No,” said a voice again. “He’ll hit me again.”

“Who’ll hit you?” asked Alec calmly and was looking around the room, but still no sign of Magnus. Every now and then he could see a shadow passing by him and he knew that it was only Magnus, so he didn’t feel too creeped out.

“My step father,” came another whisper.

Then it finally hit Alec was going on; Magnus must’ve been having a vision or was re-living one of his days. It must’ve been a traumatic experience, usually ghosts re-lived their worst memories. And if Alec wanted more answers, he knew what he needed to do. He needed Magnus to show him that vision, even though Alec himself hated seeing ghost’s visions. He only experienced it once and since then avoided doing it; it was too creepy.

“He won’t hit you, I promise,” said Alec softly. “He’s not here now, let me help you.”

There was deadly silence followed by that, but then suddenly Magnus appeared under the table, still hiding. Alec let out a hitched breath when he sensed Magnus’ emotions, there was a storm going on inside of him and he wasted no more time, kneeling down to him in the next moment. “Do you know who I am?” asked Alec softly and Magnus shook his head. “It’s okay, you just need to calm down and-”

“Mama!” suddenly yelled out Magnus, looking past Alec, staring at the blank wall, but whatever he must’ve been seeing, it had to be horrible. Knowing what to do, Alec placed his hand on top of Magnus’, holding it in air and his entire body felt cold. The first things that he could feel were fear, sadness, guilt, remorse, anger… Hatred. Then it felt like he was sucked into Magnus’ brain, letting out a hitched breath when he finally evoked the vision.

Alec found himself under the table, but in a different, bigger kitchen. He was looking through Magnus’ eyes and the first thing that he could see was that he was still just a boy, Alec’s heart breaking when Magnus looked up and saw a man hitting a woman and he could hear Magnus screaming again, but he couldn’t understand what he was saying. Then suddenly, the man turned around and the boy froze. He couldn’t see the woman’s face, but he could clearly see the man; a round face, light hair, beard and dark, evil eyes. Fear filled Alec’s heart and then suddenly he saw Magnus as a little boy sprinting outside the house. Alec could see that they were no longer in New York and then Magnus turned around.

Alec wanted to scream when the man, probably Magnus’ step father, grabbed the boy by his hair and slapped him hard. Again and again. It was at that part that Alec couldn’t handle it anymore, he couldn’t see Magnus in such pain. It made him feel sick down to his stomach to see what Magnus had to go through as a child. As Magnus was yelling, kicking and screaming out in pain, the man was only laughing, but didn’t stop.

“Stop it!” yelled out Alec, thus ending the vision, finding himself back in his kitchen when he opened his eyes. He felt exhausted, his entire body buzzing and shaking, his heart speeding up and he then looked to his side, Magnus luckily still there. “Magnus,” stammered Alec. “I-”

“Alexander,” said Magnus and Alec threw his head back in relief. Magnus finally remembered him. Magnus was a mess, still confused of what had just happened. The things that he had just seen seemed familiar to him and he quite soon recognised the people in the vision that he had had. His mother and step father; he could remember them. Well, only their faces, but not their names. He wasn’t sure if that would be much of a help. “The things I’ve seen, they’re-”

“I’ve seen them too,” whispered Alec softly. “They’re your memories,” he then added.

“Yeah,” whispered Magnus and looked down. “I can remember now. My mother and my step father,” he then added and his eyes welled up, but he kept his cool. “He was a horrible man, he hit my mother,” he then added and Alec felt his heart breaking. “He hit me too, I was terrified of him.”

“I’m so sorry,” whispered Alec, feeling angry again and he cursed. “Don’t worry, he can’t hurt you anymore. And I’ll figure it out who he is, the bastard will pay for what he did,” said the detective. “Can you remember his name?” he asked softly.

“No,” whispered Magnus. “What was even a point of me remembering this? I was happier before not knowing about-”

“It’s okay even if you don’t know the names,” said Alec. “Now we know how he looks, I’ll have Clary tomorrow sketch him and then I’ll get to searching him. If he did all of that, I bet he’s a convicted criminal, we should be able to find him,” he said and Magnus shrugged. “I didn’t see your mother, but-”

“I remember her face,” whispered Magnus with a small voice and shut his eyes, because it hurt. “That’ll help too, right?”

“Yes, of course,” said Alec quickly and nodded. “Tomorrow you’ll come to the station with me,” he said. “I’ll tell Jace to bring Clary along, we’ll get onto finding out who they are as soon as possible.”

“Thank you,” said Magnus.

“No need to thank me,” said Alec and got onto his legs, switching the lights back on and sighed. “It’s my job as a detective to detect things, right?” he asked and a tiny smile spread across his face as that was something that Magnus said when he was playing around with him. Magnus forced a little smile and then followed Alec into the living room.

They spent the next few hours just chatting about random things, Alec hoping that Magnus could recall more from his life, but he didn’t have much luck. Alec thought that Magnus was over his memories, but as night started setting in, he could feel loneliness and fear creeping into Magnus’ heart again and he felt horrible. He was exhausted, he needed the sleep, but when he mentioned going to sleep, he could feel Magnus’ anxiety worsening, so he changed his mind.

“I think I’ll hang out with you this night,” said Alec softly and Magnus shook his head.

“You’re tired, you should go sleep. I’ll be okay, it’s just a few hours,” stammered the ghost.

“A few hours can feel like eternity, I know,” said Alec and shook his head. “I’m staying here with you. I can’t leave you alone after that,” he then added and he could feel Magnus’ emotions again, fear of abandonment. “I won’t abandon you. I mean… what are friends for?” he asked softly and Magnus’ mood brightened.

“We’re friends?” asked Magnus, which was new to him. “I thought you didn’t like me very much.”

“Eh, forget that,” said Alec and shook his head. “I was just… playing hard to get,” he said playfully and Magnus hummed in amusement, but didn’t say anything, he was glad to be called Alec’s friend. In the end, the two of them ended up chatting all night long and even though Magnus saw that Alec was struggling not to fall asleep, he decided to be selfish. Alec was right, he didn’t want to be left alone.

* * *

“I’ll need more coffee,” whined Alec, who was already at the station, currently almost the only one in the building since it was pretty early and was making his second coffee for that morning, yawning widely as he poured himself another cup of coffee and then made his way to the desk. He rubbed his tired eyes and then looked up at Magnus, who was sitting on the desk and was watching him with a smile.

“I’m sorry for keeping you up the entire night,” said Magnus and then sighed, appearing by Alec’s side and Alec only shrugged. “But so just you know… I really appreciated the talk,” he then added and Alec nodded with a yawn.

“Don’t worry about it,” said the detective and leaned back in his chair. During the night, they had gotten somewhere closer and Alec didn’t really know what to think about that. He never had a ghost as a friend.

Curiously, Magnus started looking around Alec’s desk and frowned when he saw a sketch of himself. “Is this supposed to be me?” asked Magnus and lifted the paper, Alec nodding.

“Our sketch artist… Clary, Jace’s girlfriend, helped me out to sketch a picture of you. I hoped it would help with finding your identity, but for the time being, I haven’t been very successful,” said Alec then and Magnus hummed in amusement as he continued looking at the sketch.

“Not bad job at all,” said Magnus with his usual cockiness. “She totally captured all of my charms and good looks perfectly,” he then added and Alec rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

Just as Magnus was looking at the photo, Jace came in and his eyes widened when he saw the piece of paper floating in the middle of the air. Even though he knew that ghosts existed, it still freaked him out and he let surprised yelp. That startled Magnus and the sketch ended up falling onto the ground, no longer having the ability to hold it and he cursed. He needed to get a better control of his energy.

“Hey, Alec,” said Jace and looked around. “Do you have company?”

“Oh, the Detective Douche is already here,” said Magnus, annoyed to see that Jace came to work so early and then looked at Alec, who nodded, picked up the sketch and looked over at his partner.

“Yep,” said Alec simply. “Magnus says… hi,” said Alec slowly and then nodded.

“It’s him again?” asked Jace and shook his head. “Didn’t you agree that he won’t follow you here? Something about him being distracting and obnoxious?” went on by saying Jace. “And what’s with the bags under your eyes? Didn’t get enough sleep last night?”

“Distracting and _obnoxious?_ ” asked Magnus and looked at Alec, who slid down in his chair, trying to make himself look invisible. “Is that how you described me to the Douche over here?” he then asked and Alec felt a stab of guilt at his heart.

“Thank you for saying this in front of him. Really, man, I appreciate it,” said Alec and gave Jace an angry look, who only noticed his mistake then. Since he couldn’t see the ghost, he forgot that the other was still in the room. “Look, I didn’t mean-” started explaining Alec, but was interrupted by Magnus.

“You forgot the main part… how about completely irresistible?” teased Magnus and waggled his eyebrows, Alec rolling his eyes again when Magnus was joking around again. “I mean look at this,” said Magnus and pointed to himself, turning around, showing off his perfect body. “I bet that even Douche over here would find it difficult to say no to all of _this,_ ” said Magnus and Alec huffed under his breath.

“Well, aren’t you the modest one,” said Alec under his breath.

“Of course, being modest and humble is my virtue,” said Magnus and hopped on top of Jace’s desk. “Besides being the best damn thing your eyes have ever seen,” he then added and winked to Alec, who said nothing, but the annoyance on his face told him to stay quiet.

Jace didn’t know what had just happened, but wasn’t about to ask. He went to his desk and as he placed his things onto the desk, his hand passed right through Magnus. Surprised, Jace yelped and backed away. “A-Alec,” stammered the blond. “Can you please let him know to stop doing that? He’s sitting right there, isn’t he?” he asked and groaned when Alec nodded.

“Loosen up, Blondie. What’s the big deal?” asked Magnus, but then disappeared from Jace’s desk, only to appear right in Alec’s lap. “Hello there,” said the flirty ghost and batted his eyelashes. “Missed me?”

“For the love of God, stop it, Magnus,” hissed Alec and got onto his legs, shuddering as his body passed right through the ghost. “Jace, where is Clary?!” snapped the detective then, slipping into his usual grumpy mood.

“She’ll be here any time now,” said Jace and looked towards the door, straightening himself up when he saw his girlfriend stepping right through the door. “And there she is,” said Jace, got onto his feet and walked to Clary, giving her a hello kiss. “Hey.”

“Hey, Jace… Alec,” said the red-head and walked closer to the raven haired detective, who was currently trying to ignore Magnus’ shameless flirting. Alec couldn’t believe the words spilling out of Magnus’ mouth and he could only thank the Gods that he was the only one who was able to see and hear him. “You okay in there?” asked Clary, not knowing of Alec’s ability.

“Yep, completely fine,” said Alec and got onto his legs, walking to Clary. “Thank you for coming here so early in the morning,” he then added and Clary shrugged.

“I was told that it was an emergency,” said Clary.

After Clary drank her own cup of coffee and they chatted for a bit, Clary and Alec had gotten down to business. Clary sketched Magnus’ step father first and then with Magnus’ help, Alec was able to describe Magnus’ mother to Clary in great details. Alec was satisfied with the results that they had now; two great sketches and a big possibility to finally find out who Magnus really was and what had happened to him.

Magnus, on the other hand, spent the entire day staring at the sketch of his mother, long after he was back in Alec’s apartment, asking Alec to leave the sketch with him. He knew her face, looking at it made him feel at ease and yet, he couldn’t remember anything about that woman. Alec left Magnus alone, because he could sense that the ghost needed some time for himself, so he just went to bed, desperate to catch up onto the sleep he lost the previous night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I borrowed the "Detective Douche" from Lucifer. I tried to be original, but in the end, I couldn't resist. There's just something hilarious about Magnus using that same nick-name for our Jace. I think it suits him well xD.
> 
> Also, thank you for all of your support, it means a lot to me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't know about medicine and all that other stuff a lot, so if things about the murder case in this chapter were off I apologise and am asking you to correct me. Thank you!

Magnus found himself lost, he didn't know where he was. Again, he was walking in the dark, feeling abandoned and shivers ran up his spine, because a familiar coldness started spreading across his entire body. He felt trapped, he couldn't breathe properly and he started panicking again, trying to call out for help, but not even a sound left his mouth. He was frantically looking around himself, trying to find something or someone that would help him and then suddenly a bright light blinded him and finally he could hear again.

Magnus heard terror, people screaming and yelling for help. Children crying somewhere in the background and sirens. He was laying on the cold floor without even knowing it himself and he couldn’t get up, still unable to see, still wandering around in the darkness. Weight was pressing down onto his body and everything hurt when he tried getting up. He quickly turned his head when he heard a cry next to him, but he couldn’t see anyone. Then just like that, the darkness around him disappeared and it was again as if he woke up from a nightmare, laying on concrete floor, frowning when he found himself on the same bridge. The bridge was long and big, two towers with gothic arches with many cables attached to them on it.

Magnus didn’t know what bridge it was, he couldn’t remember the name of it. But he knew that it was pretty well known, yet he couldn’t recall it. It was ridiculous; for some reason he was able to remember the address of Alec’s place and yet, he couldn’t remember this bridge? Also, why was he so attached to it? Magnus didn’t quite get it, but a lot of times he would be dreaming of the bridge or randomly appearing on it without even him knowing it himself how he had gotten there. There was another thing; he didn’t like how being on that bridge made him feel. Fear, sadness and dread were connected to the bridge every time he’d remember it or be on it. One of the reasons why he didn’t tell Alec about it yet; he didn’t want to be talking about it out loud. He knew that it had to be somehow connected to what happened to him, but for the time being, he was better off not knowing the truth. Also, he didn’t want to leave quite yet if Alec would really find out his identity so quickly. He had gotten attached to his detective, so leaving so soon would be such a pity.

Speaking of detective, Magnus perked up and quickly headed to Alec’s apartment, finding the detective still in bed, soundly asleep. Magnus didn’t know what time it was since he had completely lost the track of time, but it was still pretty dark, so it must’ve been pretty early in the morning. He considered waking Alec up from his slumber, but then decided not to. He appeared on top of Alec’s bed and smiled when he took a closer look at Alec’s sleeping face and he grinned; the man looked much younger when he was peacefully asleep like this. There was no frown in between his eyebrows and lips pressed together in frustration.

Detective Grumpy, as Magnus liked to address Alec, was indeed a very good looking man; he was beautiful and Magnus didn’t allow the fact that he was just a ghost now bother him quite yet. He was allowed to admire Alec’s looks, but beyond that it was nothing. They were just friends, good friends. That was what Magnus convinced himself. In the couple of weeks of being together Magnus was able to learn a lot of new things about Alec. Besides Detective Douche, he was able to see the red-head, Biscuit, as Magnus liked to address her and Alec’s sister, Pumpkin. Magnus chuckled and shook his head; Alec and Izzy were so different and yet, Magnus could see how deeply they cared for each other.

Seeing Alec’s friends and family made a new hole in Magnus’ heart. Alec still wasn’t able to locate his mother and stepfather, which saddened the ghost. He just felt so… alone and lost. Did he ever have any other friends? Or family? Or was he indeed a lone wolf, without having anyone in his life? That would explain so many things; the fear of being alone and abandoned, not being able to handle it when Alec had to go sleep and Magnus would have to spend the next hours in complete loneliness and darkness.

Alec’s little snoring and mumbling in his sleep prevented Magnus from slipping out of control and he smiled when he saw Alec turning on his side and extending his arms out. A devious smile spread across Magnus face as he lied down next to sleeping detective, careful enough not to touch him, since he knew how much Alec disliked the touch of a ghost. Whatever Alec was dreaming about it must’ve pleasant, because there was a little smile on his lips as he was sleeping and Magnus hummed in delight. Just what was he dreaming about?

“Magnus,” breathed out Alec in his sleep and Magnus’ eyes widened when he heard that. Alec was having a pleasant dream about him? Interesting. A perfect piece of information that would help Magnus to tease Alec later when he would wake up. As Magnus moved closer to Alec, the other let out a hitched breath and threw his head into the pillow, Magnus arching an eyebrow. Was he having an impact on Alec’s dreams? Maybe it was his closeness that it was the reason that Alec was dreaming about him in the first place.

“You okay in there?” asked Magnus, worried. “I’m not causing you nightmares, am I?” he then whispered, talking to himself and he pressed his lips together. As he was trying to make sure he wasn’t making Alec suffer in his dreams, his hand accidentally went through Alec’s shoulder and nothing could prepare Magnus for what spilled out of Alec’s mouth.

“Magnus… feels good… go faster,” mumbled Alec and Magnus needed to take a few moments to realise just what kind of a dream Alec was having. Then it hit him, calling out his name so desperately, panting, and telling him to go faster… A sly smirk spread across Magnus’ face and he shook his head.

“You naughty boy, you’re having dirty dreams about me?” asked Magnus and started laughing silently.

By the time Alec was awake, Magnus was going through Alec’s clothes, picking him out an outfit. Magnus didn’t know why, but he felt responsible for how Alec went out and presented himself; being stylish was everything. It was probably somehow connected to whatever he was doing in his life before… the time had gotten the best of him. That day, Magnus decided on black jeans paired with a dark purple button up shirt for Alec and placed them onto the bed. He was proud of himself; during the two weeks with Alec he had learned how to control his energy better and was able to move a few objects without being exhausted right the next moment.

Alec slowly sat up onto the bed, his hair a mess and Magnus grinned when he saw Alec’s bed-hair; he was adorable like that. Alec was still half asleep, his little yawns reminding him of a cat and he frowned. He used to own a cat, he remembered. Alec, on the other hand, glared at Magnus and didn’t like the smirk on the ghost’s face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” asked Alec stubbornly and narrowed his eyes when he saw the clothes that Magnus picked out for him.

“You remind me of my cat,” said Magnus and smiled. “When he’d wake up he was always grumpy and was yawning just like you’re now,” he added and saw Alec giving him an odd look. “It’s adorable,” he then added and shrugged.

When Alec heard that, he was on awake immediately and he looked at Magnus. Up until then, Magnus never mentioned owning a can, so he might had remembered something else! “You had a cat?” asked Alec and Magnus nodded. “Did you remember this earlier or is this something new?” he then asked and Magnus sighed.

“Watching you just now made me remember,” said Magnus and shrugged, appearing on Alec’s bed and he chewed on his lower lip, closing his eyes, trying to remember something else, but all that he got was blankness. “But that’s it, nothing else. I just know that I used to be a cat owner,” he then added and arched an eyebrow. “This isn’t very helpful, is it?”

“Well, the most important part is that you started remembering things about your past,” said Alec and rubbed his forehead. “It’s a slow process, trust me. But as long as we’re making some progress, that’s all that matters,” he then added and Magnus only nodded and then grinned when he remembered Alec’s little dreams from before.

“So, detective Grumpy,” said Magnus. “Had pleasant dreams tonight?” asked Magnus with a grin and waggled his eyebrows playfully, Alec narrowing his eyes.

Alec frowned as he tried to recall his dreams; he knew that he was dreaming about something nice. They were amazing dreams about Magnus. He remembered hugging the man in his dreams, allowing him to kiss him, take him to bed and then… Alec’s face flushed into deep shades of red and he cleared his throat. “Y-yes,” said Alec and then glared at Magnus when he started laughing. “What?!”

“I bet they were,” said Magnus and hummed in amusement. “Oh, Magnus,” suddenly moaned Magnus and Alec flinched. “Please, go faster.” Magnus then laid down and tried his best not to laugh out loud. “Yes, that’s the spot, Magnus,” went on by teasing Magnus, exaggerating things he heard before. “Any of this rings a bell?”

“Oh my God… you heard?!” asked Alec and threw himself back onto the bed, stuffing his face with a pillow.

“I must say that I was surprised,” said Magnus and suddenly appeared on top of Alec, who froze. Even though Magnus wasn’t really laying there, just his ghost, he could feel warmth spreading all over his body and weirdly enough, he didn’t even feel the usual coldness of the ghost touching him. “Who would’ve thought? You look so innocent on the outside, but you’re a naught boy deep inside,” said Magnus and sighed happily. “Do tell, what were we doing in those dreams? I want to know every little detail.”

“Fuck you, Magnus.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Get away,” snapped Alec and forced himself to get up, but couldn’t deny the growing boner inside of his boxers and he covered himself with a blanket when he was sitting up, Magnus clearly noticing his little problem in his pants.

“Oh, someone’s happy to see me,” mused Magnus.

“Leave me alone!” said Alec. “Look, with everything going on recently I just haven’t been able to… you know and since you’re nagging me all the time, I just had the unpleasant coincidence to dream about…” started explaining Alec and then groaned when he saw that Magnus was just messing around with him. “You know, I don’t owe any explanations to you. You can think whatever you want, what do I care?”

“I don’t know, why do you care?” asked Magnus and Alec grabbed the pillow and threw it to Magnus’ direction. The pillow landed on the floor and Magnus chuckled, shaking his head. “Relax, Alexander, I’m just teasing,” he said. “But you should loosen up a bit and go out. Maybe meet someone new and have a bit of a fun. I could help you out in that department and-”

“No!” snapped Alec quickly and way too loud than he intended it to be. Magnus jumped when Alec suddenly started yelling at him and he backed away, not knowing what he did wrong. “I don’t need anyone!”

“Okay?” said Magnus. “I was just trying to help and-”

“Well don’t,” cut him off Alec. “You don’t know anything about me, so stop trying to help me,” he then went on by saying, knowing that he was being cruel to Magnus, but the other turned on a switch inside of him and he couldn’t go back. Bad and painful memories from the past started flashing in front of his eyes. Sleepless nights, crying, the cheating and the lies… “Leave me alone, Magnus,” said Alec then and walked past him, going into the bathroom, slamming the door on his way and Magnus just stood there, speechless.

Just what did he do wrong?

* * *

Jace and Alec were on a crime scene. A man, in his early 30s, had been found dead in the morning that day by his brother. While Jace had been giving others instructions, Alec went closer to the victim and scrunched his nose when he stepped into the bathroom, which was the crime scene. He heard sobbing coming from the other room, which was probably the brother talking to Jace and Alec felt his heart growing heavy as he looked down to the victim.

The whole scene looked like a suicide; the man was in the tub, his wrists slit and he sighed, shaking his head. He saw the medical examiners putting scissors stained with blood into the bag, but it wasn’t rocket science to realise that the man used that to slit his wrists. He then looked over the room to see if the man’s ghost was somewhere present, but he felt weight lifting off of his shoulders when there wasn’t any ghosts present there and he then stepped closer to one of the medical examiners, Simon. Clary’s friend.

“So, what we’re looking at is a suicide?” asked Alec and arched an eyebrow when the man shook his head.

“No,” said Simon. “What we’re looking at is a murder.”

“Murder?”

“Yes,” said Simon. “The victim’s wrists were slit after his death. There’s not much blood in the tub, which indicates that the wounds on the victim’s body were created _post-mortem_ , after he was already dead. Someone wants us to think that this was a suicide,” he explained. “There’s no other wounds present on his body and no signs of foul play. So maybe… poisoning?” said Simon and sighed, pulling his gloves down, looking up at Alec. “I’ll know more after I’ll examine him at the morgue.”

“I understand,” said Alec and pressed his lips together. “Thank you, Simon, I’ll-” started explaining Alec when he suddenly got the same annoying, eerie feeling that someone was watching over him. He could tell that it was a ghost’s presence, it was a new ghost. It was confused, scared and Alec had to sit down, because he felt sick down to his stomach all of the sudden. Then, out of the blue, he saw the victim’s ghost hovering on top of his body.

“No!” screamed the ghost, his energy making the lights flicker in the room. As the ghost yelled, Alec noticed how Simon suddenly flinched and he arched an eyebrow. “No!” was another scream and it was at that exact moment that Simon groaned again and started looking around, Alec completely speechless. Did he hear the ghost as well? Maybe see it?

“Stop screaming, will you? I know you’re having probably a terrible day with being murdered and all of that, but,” then suddenly snapped Simon. “I have a really bad hangover and I would appreciate it if you would keep it down,” whined the medical examiner and held onto his aching head.

“I didn’t say anything,” said Alec silently and his heart was beating faster. Simon definitely heard the screams.

Simon then turned around and nodded. “Oh, I know,” said Simon. “I was talking to the ghost,” he then added simply and narrowed his eyes when he saw how surprised Alec looked and he shook his head. “Why are you so shocked? Can’t you like… see them?” he asked and Alec said nothing. “I know about your gift, since we share it… well, partially. I can’t see them, but I can hear them and well… I’ve heard you talking to them a few times down at the station,” explained Simon and Alec slowly nodded.

“Have you…. Have you always been able to talk to them?” asked Alec slowly, turning around if someone was listening to their conversation and weight lifted off of his shoulders when it was just him and Simon in that bathroom.

“Nope,” said Simon simply and started placing his things into his bag. “A few years ago I was in an accident. I was pronounced dead for a few seconds. I suppose because of me coming in touch with the afterlife for a few seconds gave me this gift,” he then explained and Alec frowned, shaking his head. He had been always able to see the ghosts, without going through something so traumatic. Ever since he could remember.

“A gift?” scoffed Alec. “It’s more like a curse.”

“Why do you have to be so pessimistic all the time?” asked Simon annoyed. “It’s a gift that we get to help people in their afterlife, yes. Well, at least I do,” said the medical examiner. “After they’re done helping you, they find me to help them finish their unfinished business. Most of them complain that you aren’t very… patient,” said the younger one and Alec groaned, rolling his eyes. Great, even ghosts talked behind his back.

“Hey, I help _them_ ,” said Alec stubbornly.

“Well, sure, but,” said Simon and got onto his legs. “Think about it, they disappear when you solve the case. Sure, you’re helping them, but you can’t deny that you’d be able to solve the cases so fast if it weren’t for the spirits,” said Simon and sighed. “No offense, but you’re a dick.”

“Whatever,” said Alec and left the bathroom, going over to Jace to see how questioning of the brother was coming along.

Later that day, thanks to the victim’s brother, they were able to get a break in the case. Just like Simon expected, it was a murder, no a suicide. They found high doses of arsenic in the victim’s body and already had a few suspects. According to the brother, the man owed a lot of money to his company and three of his friends. So all that they needed to do was to question those people, because all of them had a perfect motive. But that could wait for the next day, it was already very late when Alec was coming back home, excited to see Magnus. He had so many things to tell him.

Alec was pissed with Simon; how did he dare to call him a dick? He needed to complain to Magnus and hear him say that he wasn’t one; Magnus never said anything bad about him. But when Alec came back home, he found himself to be stuck in a situation; Magnus was nowhere to be seen. He spent hours of calling out to him, but nothing. He was gone. Usually Magnus would be back by the morning, but he wasn’t the next morning and Alec cursed. He literally told him to leave him alone. All that Magnus was trying to do was to help him.

After a week had passed and Magnus was still nowhere to be seen, Alec was convinced that that was it. Magnus had left him for good.

Great. He really was a dick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone thank you so much for your comments and support, they mean a lot. I couldn't keep writing without people's support, so thank you. 
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter :P


	5. Chapter 5

Two weeks. Still nothing. Magnus had disappeared, vanished into thin air and Alec was a moping mess, driving Jace insane with his comments and sighs. Sure, he was still helping with the case, but apart from that, he was trying to avoid every human, or ghost for that matter, interaction. They managed to solve that case pretty easily, the killer was the victim's best friend, because the man wouldn't return him the money on time, so the friend decided to take of the problem on his own, poisoning his friend and try to make it look like a suicide. Alec was happy to see that they were able to solve the case, with the spirit's help of course. He reminded himself not to be a dick to the ghost, but he couldn't help himself really; he had other things to worry about. Magnus.

Alec felt guilty, of course he did. Magnus didn’t deserve all of that, it was Alec’s own fault for not being able to control his emotions and words better. Magnus only wanted to help and that hurt the most. Magnus always wanted to help and Alec was always telling him to leave him alone, forbidding him from going to the station with him, getting angry over every little thing. And for what? All what he did was drive away Magnus. He gritted his teeth and bowed his head when he realised that he reached his apartment.

Alec’s heart felt heavy as he unlocked the door. He hated his apartment. It had far too many painful memories and if only he had enough money, he’d move. He bought the apartment with his ex-boyfriend and for the first few months, it was a happy place to live in. But then all of that changed, it became a place of loneliness and heartbreak after the breakup. Only after he met Magnus was he able to forget about his ex and move forward. His apartment was again a sanctuary where he felt at ease. But he managed to ruin even that by driving Magnus away. Great.

The detective stepped inside of his apartment and took of his jacket, took off his shoes and then went into the living room, switching on the lights and then threw himself onto the couch. It was then that he heard something coming from the kitchen and he wrinkled his nose when he was able to smell something burning. Alec was on his legs immediately and literally ran to the kitchen, his jaw dropping when he stepped inside of the kitchen and saw Magnus… cooking apparently? His cooking looked like a mess and he managed to drop a bowl of water, break two plates and currently whatever he was making was burning.

Alec had no idea what was going on, but that didn’t matter to him anymore. He could care less about the mess in the kitchen, all that mattered was that Magnus was there. “Magnus!” said Alec quickly and Magnus quickly turned around, guilt written all over his face.

“Y-you’re home already?” asked Magnus and disappeared, reappearing in the corner further away from Alec. “I’m sorry about the mess. I-I wanted to surprise you with a meal. I thought that my energy control had gotten better, but as you can see,” he said and pointed to the mess. “I tried cleaning it up, but then got too tired and I-”

“You’re back,” whispered the detective and stepped closer to the spirit in the corner after he turned off the stove. If he could, he would hug him tightly and never let go. “Oh thank God, I was so worried that I lost you forever,” stammered Alec and Magnus’ eyes widened in confusion. “I’m so sorry about what I said that day. I didn’t mean it. You were only trying to help and I was an asshole. I didn’t mean to yell at you like that.”

“What are you talking about, Alexander?” asked Magnus, confused.

“You disappeared,” said Alec, his breath shaking. “I thought that it was because I-”

“I disappeared?” asked Magnus, which was news to him. “How long was I gone?”

“Two weeks,” stammered Alec. “You don’t remember?”

“Two weeks?! Oh, God,” whispered Magnus. “I can’t remember. I saw you this morning, I think… but I know that something was off,” he said. “I had a feeling that I was trapped somewhere and couldn’t get out. Everything hurt,” said Magnus. “I couldn’t breathe properly or speak. And there was this beeping sound, voices around me,” confessed Magnus. “B-but to be gone for two weeks? I had no idea, I’m so sorry for making you think I left you willingly. I’d never leave like that.”

Beeping sound, voices around him? Alec tried to focus on the information he got, but then pushed those thoughts away for the time being and he hid his face into his palms, sighing. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m just glad you’re back,” said Alec, his voice breaking. “I’m sorry for yelling at you that morning. I had no right, you didn’t deserve what I said to you.”

“It’s okay,” said Magnus with a smile. “You’re forgiven. I admit that I also went overboard with the teasing that morning. The dream that you had about me… I shouldn’t have made fun of you like that. Thinking about it now, it wasn’t funny,” he then added and looked into the kitchen, but Alec only shook his head. So what if Magnus teased, he didn’t care. All that he cared was that Magnus was back. “So, about the mess in the kitchen. I-”

“Leave it, that’s not important,” said Alec and bowed his head down. “You’re here, nothing else matters,” heard Magnus and he was speechless. “I was so lonely without you,” he then added and looked back up, tears present in his eyes. “Ever since my breakup I was miserable and lonely, but you were able to make that pain go away. So, being without you for so long… I hated it,” he said.

Breakup? Magnus sighed; that explained so much. When he saw that Alec was on verge of crying, he gave him a little smile and shrugged. “Shh, it’s all okay now,” he said. Seeing Alec so broken made him want to hug him, and that was exactly what he was going to do. “Hey, close your eyes for me,” he then said and Alec did as he was told to, his eyes shut, but his body was still shaking. Magnus then bit into his lower lip and slowly, carefully came closer to Alec, who shuddered when he felt the other coming closer to him. Because Alec didn’t back away, Magnus grinned and then wrapped his arms around Alec’s neck and gave him something that looked like a hug, but definitely felt like it.

Magnus let out a hitched breath when he touched Alec; his warmth warmed up the ghost’s body and Alec stiffened up when he felt coldness overcoming his body. However, he quickly relaxed as he reminded himself that it was Magnus. He could feel Magnus’ strong arms holding him close if he kept his eyes closed and he almost smiled. Alec wanted to return the hug, so he lifted his arms up and circled them around the ghost, holding them in the air, but he could feel Magnus’ energy against his fingers, Magnus’ smile growing when he felt Alec relaxing in his arms.

“I’m here now,” said Magnus suddenly and Alec felt shivers running up his spine. “Feeling better?” asked Magnus and Alec opened his eyes. As he did that, the feeling of Magnus’ strong arms holding him faded away even though the spirit was still technically holding him and Magnus quickly let go when he saw that Alec was getting uncomfortable with him holding him.

“Yeah, I feel lots better now,” said Alec and sighed. “Thanks,” he then muttered and walked past Magnus, going into the kitchen and arched an eyebrow when he looked inside of a pan. From the mess on the counter, Alec could tell that Magnus was preparing scrambled eggs. But the colour of the thing inside of the pan was dark brown, almost black and Magnus sighed as he appeared next to Alec. “So… the plan was to surprise me with a dinner?” asked the detective and Magnus nodded.

“You did so much for me, so I wanted to return the favour,” said Magnus and leaned onto the floor, trying to take care of the mess, but his hand went right through the broken pieces of the plate and he cursed. “I hate being so useless.”

“You’re far from that,” said Alec softly and gave Magnus a smile. Alec then went closer to the counter and quickly took care of everything on the floor, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the pan. Eating that didn’t sound appetising, but then at the same time, Magnus made it for him. After not seeing him for two whole weeks, he couldn’t just throw that away. When Alec took a better look at Magnus, he could tell that he looked exhausted, wondering just how much energy it took from. “Besides, now I don’t have to cook, thanks to you,” he then added and Magnus watched with horror on his face how Alec put the burnt food onto a plate and carried it onto the table.

“You can’t eat that,” commented Magnus and shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous, Alexander!”

“But I want to and I will,” said Alec and sat down stubbornly. “You did this for me and you’re exhausted now. You can’t see yourself, but I can and I can tell how much this tired you out,” he added. “I can’t just throw this away,” he then said and Magnus’ eyes widened.

“Well, if you end up poisoning and then dying because of this, no one can accuse me of murder since I’m already dead, so I have nothing to lose,” joked Magnus.

“Also, I’ll keep you company in the afterlife if this ends up killing me, so it’s a win-win situation,” said Alec with a chuckle and took the first bite of the burnt egg, chewing as less as he could and he tried not to make a face as the bitter taste filled his mouth, forcing the food down his throat and he gave Magnus a weak smile. “Yum,” he said and then quickly went to pour himself a glass of water.

“You’re not fooling anyone,” said Magnus with amusement in his voice, but deep inside he was happy to see Alec eat what he prepared for him. It meant a lot to him; he really did try his best and to see that Alec went to such lengths for him, warmed the ghost up inside and made him feel alive. Well, almost.

“It’s not that bad,” said Alec and gave Magnus a tiny smile when he saw that he was watching his every little move. With every bite, Alec chugged down a glass of water, but in the end he managed to finish his plate. “It still tastes better than my sister’s cooking,” he then added with a chuckle and Magnus just shook his head, letting out an amused hum.

“Don’t make fun of Pumpkin,” said Magnus, because he liked Alec’s sister. Even though Alec didn’t really introduce them really, he still had the chance to meet her when she was over on a visit.

“Oh, I’m not making fun of anyone,” said Alec, because he knew just how bad Isabelle’s cooking was. He loved her to dead and even though her fashion creations were flawless, he had to admit it that cooking wasn’t one of her strong points and she knew that very well, but didn’t let that stop her from cooking. “You can consider yourself lucky because you’ll never be able to taste one of her dishes.”

Magnus arched an eyebrow and pressed his lips together when he saw that Alec wasn’t kidding around and was being serious. Well, it surely couldn’t be that bad. He said nothing about that, but the little smile remained on his face. Magnus was happy, he really was. A moment like that was perfect and he didn’t want it to end. “You know what I’ve learned about you?” asked Magnus and Alec arched an eyebrow. “You’re like an onion. You’re grumpy, sure, but that’s just the first layer of you. As you take down the layers, your true self unravels itself more. Deep inside you’re a very nice guy. It’s a shame you hide yourself in front of a mask of this… grumpiness. It’s really unflattering,” commented Magnus and Alec rolled his eyes.

“I have my reasons,” said Alec and carried the plate to the sink, deciding to wash the dishes later.

“Which are?” asked Magnus, deciding that it was okay for him to push onto Alec a bit more. Alec was tempted to tell Magnus to mind his own business, but after the two weeks, he didn’t have the heart to tell him that. He silently made his way to the living room and sat down onto the couch, Magnus appearing besides him and cocked his head to the side when he saw that Alec was still silent. “Does this have anything to do with that breakup you mentioned earlier?” asked Magnus carefully.

“Yes,” breathed Alec out and felt his throat tightening up, his chest feeling heavy. Since the breakup, he never talked about what had happened. His family and friends knew what happened, but he never talked to them about it. He figured that the easiest way to get over it was to push down the feelings and pretend that he was okay. But that wasn’t the right way.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” said Alec too quickly, but at the same time, he wanted to tell someone. Just by talking of it, he’d be opening old wounds that never properly healed. And he didn’t want the heartache to return back to haunt him.

Magnus nodded and decided to respect Alec’s wishes. “Okay, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” said Magnus and his eyes widened when he saw the pained expression on Alec’ face, his hands folded into fists.

“I loved him so much,” suddenly blurted out Alec and Magnus felt a deadly silence dropping between them. For the next few moments, neither of them spoke. Magnus stayed silent, allowing Alec to take his time. Alec, on the other hand, couldn’t keep the words from spilling anymore. “And he betrayed my trust, he used me,” said the detective and then bit into his lower lip, trying to stop it from shaking.

“Oh God,” whispered Magnus and felt helpless when he saw Alec in that state. If he would ever be lucky enough to get a chance to be with Alexander, he’d never hurt him. He’d always make sure that Alec was happy and smiling. “What exactly did the bastard do to you?”

“Cheated on me multiple times,” said Alec. “And I was stupid enough to let him back every single time it happened. It’s my fault, I was too blind to see it. He kept promising me that he’d change and I knew that he wouldn’t. But yet, I believed his empty promises.”

Magnus was angry when he heard that. He despised people who cheated and lied in relationships. “You weren’t stupid, you were in love,” said Magnus in the end and Alec started angrily wiping the tears away. He hated crying, especially when it came to his ex. “You shouldn’t blame yourself, he was an idiot to cheat on you,” he then added and then carefully placed a hand on top of Alec’s, the detective not backing away when he felt the familiar coldness against his hand.

“He even asked me to marry him,” said Alec. “And I was stupid enough to agree to it,” he said. “And then on the day we were supposed to get married, I found him in bed with another guy… yet again.” A loud sob left Alec’s mouth and he bowed his head down again when he remembered that day. It was the most horrible day in his life so far, he’d do anything to erase it from his memory. “He… he cheated on me once again.”

“I’ll kill the bastard,” said Magnus and his anger was growing even more, making the lights in the room flicker. He wanted to physically hurt whoever it was that did that to Alec.

“Magnus?” asked Alec and Magnus snapped out of it, the lights no longer flickering in the room. “Am I really that horrible? I mean he-”

“No. No you’re not,” said Magnus before Alec could finish his sentence. “That guy was just a piece of shit. You’re amazing, Alexander… any guy would be lucky to have you,” said Magnus and his breath shook when he said that. He’d be happy to have him. When that thought crossed Magnus’ mind, his eyes widened and he shuddered. “You deserve everything and so much more,” he then added and Alec just hiccupped again, Magnus cursing the guy once again.

“Well it doesn’t matter anymore to be honest,” said Alec and shrugged. “I’ve already decided that from now on, I’ll never get seriously involved with anymore. I’ve been let down far too many times to actually believe there’s such a thing like love,” he then added and puffed his cheeks, wiping his tears away, leaning back against the couch. Though his heart was still aching, he felt easier now that he shared his breakup with Magnus.

“Aw, you shouldn’t do that,” said Magnus and gave Alec an encouraging smile. “You shouldn’t give up on love, it’s real. You just need to find the right person who’ll love you back no matter what. Everyone has their soulmate out there somewhere,” said the spirit and felt uneasy as he was saying all of that, kind of hoping that he could be that someone special, Alec’s soulmate. “There’ll be someone who will tear down these walls that you built around yourself,” he then added and frowned. He heard that from someone; someone close to him. Why couldn’t he remember?

“No,” said Alec. “The walls are here to stay. It’s easier to be alone than to get hurt again,” he added stubbornly.

“That sounds like a sad and lonely life to me,” said Magnus and shook his head. “You’re young, you’ve got your entire life in front of you. I envy you,” said the ghost quietly and slowly looked down. “I would give anything to get another chance.”

“Magnus…”

“It’s okay,” said Magnus with a sad smile and shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said. “The point is that you need to stop moping around, get over your ex. Then you’ll see that this way of thinking won’t bring you anywhere,” he then added and gave a little smile to Alec. The detective could sense the usual playfulness in Magnus’ voice and he just nodded, knowing that he didn’t mean what he said literally.

“Yeah,” said Alec and closed his eyes. “Thank you,” he then added and as he stayed like that for a few moments with his eyes closed, Magnus looked over at him and cursed silently. As Alec was in the process of calming down, Magnus was trying to convince himself that all that he felt for Alec were feelings of friendship. Best friendship. But as he imagined Alec with someone else, jealousy got the best of him and he felt sick down to his stomach when he realised that it wasn’t just pure friendship he felt for Alec.

He started falling for him and Magnus knew that he needed to stop himself before his feelings for Alec would grow too deep. Somewhere in the middle of the innocent flirting and genuine deep talks with Alec, he started having feelings for him and he couldn’t believe that he could be that stupid.

 Alec was alive and he was dead.

A relationship like that was doomed to fail at its core.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the support and comments, guys, you're seriously the best <3

''Sorry,'' said Isabelle when Alec opened the door of his apartment and let his sister in. ''For barging in like this,'' she then added, her hands full with some of the clothes that she designed and Alec didn't waste too much time, helping his sister by getting her suitcases and he carried them inside. The landlord of her last place kicked her out for being, quote on quote, too loud and since she needed a few days before her new place would be ready for moving in, Alec invited his sister over to live with him for a few days. He didn’t really mind having her over; the two of them used to live together before Alec moved in with his ex-boyfriend and days with Isabelle were always fun. Some more than others, because she often used him as a model for her designs.

“You’re not bargaining in at all,” said Alec and carried Isabelle’s suitcases into the living room, placing them down onto the floor and Izzy walked past Alec, placing the clothes over the couch carefully in order not to mess them up. She was working on this collection for months and tomorrow she would finally have the chance to show them to the others on the fashion show on which she was invited. Even though she was still pretty young, she had a lot of followers that were buying the clothes that she designed and she was slowly, but gradually, getting more and more popular.

“Thank you Alec, you’re the best,” said Isabelle and then took in a deep breath, looking around the apartment and narrowed her eyes when she noticed a few new things about Alec’s place. The place had a bit more flair to it since she the last visited Alec’s place. She could see a few new paintings hanging on the walls and a few decorations as well. There were even fresh flowers on the table and Izzy frowned, turning over to Alec. “Who are you and what did you do to my brother?” asked the girl chuckling and Alec shrugged.

“What do you mean?” asked Alec, because he didn’t know where Isabelle was going with that.

“Come on, Alec. Paintings on the walls, flowers on the table,” said Izzy and Alec went red into the face, looking down. What, it didn’t look good? He didn’t know much about decorating places and didn’t really care about how his apartment looked like, but since Magus kept nagging him on and on that he needed some changes in order not only to make the apartment look more welcoming, but to move on as well, he agreed to allow Magnus choose the decorations for his apartment when Magnus went shopping with him. “Are you seeing someone new?” asked the girl then seriously and Alec scrunched his nose.

“What? No,” said Alec. “It’s just that my new _friend_ has been nagging me to make this place more warm and welcoming for the people, so since I couldn’t stand him anymore, I allowed him to decorate this place,” whined Alec and then looked around. “What, does it look horrible?” asked Alec and Isabelle shook her head.

“No!” said Izzy, admiring the paintings on the walls. “Whoever helped you decorate your place is a genius and I’d love to meet them,” she added. As soon as she said that, Magnus appeared next to her, his eyes shining with pride and Alec rolled his eyes when Magnus gave him a told-you-so-look.

Magnus beamed with joy when Isabelle was admiring his decorating skills and he kept walking around with her, even though she couldn’t see him. He liked Alec’s sister a lot and he knew that they would be best friends if he was alive. Just like he, she had an amazing taste in fashion. He had seen some of her designs and they were fantastic, wishing that he could wear some of them himself. Magnus then appeared next to Alec and waggled his eyebrows.

“I like your sister,” said Magnus. “Just like me, she has an amazing taste.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Alec, but then smiled when he saw how happy Magnus looked. It was kind of cute, to be honest. Alec didn’t know how old Magnus was, but he looked like he could be somewhere close to his age and despite his age, when being praised Magnus literally turned into a five year old, shining with pride. Also, if someone happened to praise him, Magnus liked them and went on and on by reminding Alec that they liked something of his. But if they happened to criticise them, he didn’t like them very much; Jace was an example of that.

“So, who did this amazing job?” asked Isabelle and Magnus glowed with pride yet again.

“Magnus,” said Alec and Isabelle’s eyes widened. He had heard a lot about Magnus, but never had actually met him. Besides him name, she didn’t know anything about the spirit, Alec not even showing her the sketch of him. But for a good reason. Even from the sketch, Isabelle would easily be able to figure out why Alec liked him so much; he looked like his ideal type. And because Alec really didn’t have the energy to be explaining everything to Izzy, keeping the sketch hidden from her was what he decided on.

“Magnus as in your new ghost friend?” asked Izzy and when Alec nodded, Isabelle happily clapped, because Izzy had seen some changes in the way Alec dressed and it was a good change, all credits going to Magnus. “Oh my God!” she then said loudly and started looking around the room, searching for Magnus even though she didn’t see him. “Is he here somewhere? You said that he lives here with you, right?” she then asked and Alec slowly nodded.

“He’s here… he’s always present when people talk about him,” said Alec, his voice unamused, but then a tiny smile spread across his lips when he saw Magnus looking Isabelle’s designs. It looked like he was completely in awe. “He’s over there at the couch, admiring your clothes, Izzy,” said Alec and Isabelle’s jaw dropped.

“He likes my designs?” asked Isabelle. “Oh gosh,” she said and rubbed her palms together, stepping closer to the couch. “Do you really think they’re any good?” asked Isabelle, feeling a bit silly to be talking to a person invisible to her, but she didn’t care.

Magnus turned around when spoken to and he eagerly nodded. “They are fantastic,” said Magnus as he was looking at jeans and a button up shirt. “I wish I could wear them,” he then whined and sighed angrily.

“What did he say?” asked Isabelle impatiently and looked to Alec.

“He likes them and wishes that he could wear them himself,” said Alec completely uninterested.  

“He said that?!” said Isabelle overjoyed and then pouted. “It’s no fun that only you get to see him. He seems like a cool person and I’d love to hang out with him. Maybe go shopping together,” she then added and sighed, Magnus grinning when he heard that and then waggled his eyebrows when he looked over at Alec. “Oh, since he’s here, can I ask him for a little advice?”

“Of course,” said Magnus, still snooping around the clothes. When Alec nodded, Isabelle took in a deep breath.

“Okay, so,” started Isabelle and went to the pile of clothes, taking two of male button up shirts and put them on the display by holding each in her hand and looked to Alec, thinking that Magnus was there as well. “So tomorrow I have this fashion show and although I’ve put together all of the looks, I’m having difficulties with this casual, yet elegant look,” she then added and looked down at her shirts. One was baby blue with stripes of darker shades of blue, while the other one was in a baby pink colour. “I’m not sure which one to choose.”

Magnus narrowed his eyes, scanning both of the shirts and he pressed his lips together. Both of them looked gorgeous; it all depended on which kind of pants she would pair them up with. “Both of them are marvellous,” said Magnus. “Ask her with which pants is she planning to pair them up with.”

“He wants to know about the pants that will go with the shirt,” said Alec and groaned.

“Oh, yes, of course,” said Izzy and went to fetch acid washed jeans. “These.”

“Oh for the love of God no!” shrieked Magnus and Alec held back his laughter when he saw the horrified look on Magnus’ face. “No, no, no,” said the ghost and gave the jeans another disgusted look, then looking away, not bearing to take another glance at them. “That thing is horrible,” he then added and Alec grinned.

“Agreed,” said Alec. “Maybe we should burn them?” he then asked teasingly when he remembered Magnus’ threats from a few weeks ago about his ugly sweaters and Magnus nodded.

“Most definitely.”

“Burn them?!” asked Isabelle. “But-”

“He hates them,” said Alec and Isabelle looked shocked. “But he likes the shirts though.”

“Oh no,” said Isabelle. “What the hell am I supposed to do? They’re the only pair of jeans that I have at the moment for this collection,” said Isabelle and started panicking. “I mean, they’re not _that_ bad,” said Izzy then, trying to convince herself that he jeans didn’t look that terrible. She’d never wear acid washed jeans, but when she was creating the jeans, they seemed like a good idea. But looking at them now, she had to agree with Alec’s friend. “They’re horrible!” she then whined and groaned. “Alec, kill me now.”

“Oh come on, they’re just jeans. No one will care that-”

“This is a serious matter, Alexander! Acid washed jeans… oh, the horror. They’re haunting me even in my afterlife,” snapped Magnus and Alec only rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “Ask her if she has any other kind of pants. Anything’s better than _that_ ,” said Magnus, pointing to the jeans, but didn’t look at them.

“Ugh, you drama queen,” said Alec and went closer to Isabelle. “Maybe if you use other trousers for the fashion show? I’m sure you have something else that you can use,” said Alec as he remembered Isabelle telling him that she always had a backup plan if something wouldn’t work out.

“You’re right!” said Isabelle, threw the jeans onto the floor and opened one of her suitcases, taking out another pair of jeans; black skinny jeans and then she looked over at Alec. “They’re from the last season’s collection, but I didn’t get the chance to showcase them yet,” she then said and chewed on her lower lip. “It’s gonna work, won’t it?”

“Much better,” said Magnus, pleased with how the new pair of jeans looked.

“He likes them.”

“Yes!”

Magnus then narrowed his eyes and Alec arched an eyebrow and then took in a deep breath. That look on Magnus’ face meant nothing good; the other was up to something and Alec just looked away. “Alexander, I have an amazing proposition for you and your sister!” said Magnus when an amazing idea popped into his mind. “Want me to explain?”

“Not really, but do go on,” said Alec and rolled his eyes when Magnus gave him an unamused look.

“You should totally try these clothes on to see which shirt would go better with those jeans,” said Magnus and Alec’s jaw dropped, quickly shaking his head. “Oh come on, don’t be a baby. How can I give your sister an honest opinion if I don’t know how the clothes look on a person?” asked Magnus, Alec cursing Magnus’ smugness. “Plus, it would be fun.”

“For who exactly?” asked Alec. “And no, I’m not doing that!”

“Doing what?” asked Izzy curiously.

“Nothing.”

“Alec, what did he say?” asked Izzy.

“Nothing, I told you.”

“Alexander Gideon Lightwood, don’t you lie to me!” said Isabelle and Magnus was snickering behind Alec when Isabelle started scolding the detective. “He clearly said something, so let me know. I know when you’re lying, you’re terrible at it. Come on, out with the truth. Spill it.”

“Fine,” said Alec with a groan and felt his mad mood worsening when Magnus sent him a wink across the room. “He had this very stupid, ridiculous, idiotic idea of me trying on the clothes to see which shirt will go on better with the pants,” said Alec and then closed his eyes.

“That’s a genius idea!” said Isabelle.

“No it’s not,” said Alec and puffed his cheeks when he saw Izzy’s puppy-eyed look. “No, I’m not doing it. No. Period. I won’t-”

“Please, Alec? Pretty please? The model who’ll be wearing these is almost the same height and weight as you, so it’d be perfect,” whined Isabelle, Alec shaking his head and backing away. No way, there was no way that he was doing that. He wasn’t going to play dress up with Magnus right there! “Come on, this show is important for me. Everything needs to be perfect. I promise to make it up to you. Whatever you want, you’ll get it. Please Alec, I need you. Mom will kill me if this collection isn’t a success.”

“Alexander, she has a point,” said Magnus, who standing close to the button up shirts and then grabbed the sleeve, tugging on it. As he did that, Isabelle gasped when she saw the sleeve was moving on its own and he then chuckled, because that was where Magnus was.

“But… but,” stammered Alec. “You’re two against one, you’re not playing fair!”

“Please, Alec?” tried Izzy again, knowing that Alec was slowly giving in.

“Come on, Detective Grumpy, help your sister out,” said Magnus and in the end Alec groaned, rolled his eyes, grabbed the jeans and the first, blue button up shirt and walked into his bedroom to change into Isabelle’s clothes. Isabelle clapped happily and jumped up and down, grinning, because she knew that Alec won’t be able to say no.

Magnus decided to wait for Alec with Isabelle. He considered going with the detective, he would love to see Alec strip down from his clothes and then put on the new ones. But then he realised that he would be pushing too much. Alec was already in bad mood, so he decided to wait with Isabelle, who was now walking up and down the room, now knowing what to say. She knew that Alec’s ghost friend was probably there, but since she couldn’t see him, she decided to keep quiet.

After a few minutes, Alec stepped out of his bedroom wearing the jeans and shirt. Magnus just kept quiet for some time, too lost for words, because he was speechless. The tailored shirt was doing wonders for Alec’s body, showing off his broad shoulders and arms. And not to mention the tight-fitting jeans. As Alec turned around, Magnus bit into his lower lip when he saw Alec’s ass in those jeans and he had to hand it to Isabelle; the clothes were perfect, bringing the attention to all of Alec’s assets.

“How do I look?” asked Alec and looked at Isabelle, avoiding making eye-contact with Magnus, who was now shamelessly staring and admiring him.

“Oh, the shirt looks far better on you than on the model who’ll be wearing these clothes tomorrow,” said Isabelle and then went closer to Alec, checking to see how the shirt paired up with the jeans. In her opinion they looked great together.

“Magnus?” asked Alec, because the other was still just staring. “You can stop staring now.”

“Easy for you to say,” said Magnus. “Your sister is a genius. It should be illegal how good you look in this shirt. And the pants,” said Magnus and stepped behind Alec, who quickly turned around and narrowed his eyes. “Your ass looks amazing in them,” he then added and Alec went red in the face, covering his backside with his hands, making Magnus laugh out loud.

“What’s the matter?” asked Isabelle.

“Nothing!” said Alec, still red in the face. “Magnus is just being an idiot. That’s all.”

“A love struck idiot,” said Magnus in an overdramatic way, but in a way, it was true. His feelings for Alec were growing deeper with each day and Alec gave him a strange look when he said that.

“He likes this combination,” lied Alec and then grabbed the other shirt. “I’ll go try this one out in the bedroom.”

“Oh, don’t be a prude, Alec. You can change the shirt here,” said Izzy.

“Oh yeah, changing clothes in front of a horny ghost doesn’t sound weird at all. No thank you, I’ll pass the opportunity,” grumbled Alec and stomped to his bedroom, Magnus’ little giggles heard all the way to the bedroom, Izzy whistling when Alec was gone.

“So, you like my brother, huh?” mused Izzy. “Well, this explains _so_ much,” said the girl and even though she couldn’t hear or see Magnus. “But I suppose I should thank you. You brought so much joy back into Alec’s life. He might not show it, but trust me, you did a lot for him,” she added softly and Magnus gave Isabelle a smile.

Alec soon came out from his bedroom, Magnus’ eyes shining when he saw Alec in the new shirt; that looked even on him that the last one and Magnus didn’t need to think too much to decide which one looked better with the jeans. “I pick out this one,” said Magnus. “It goes much better with the jeans,” he then said and waggled his eyebrows. “Also, you should ask Izzy to give you the shirt once the fashion show is over. I’d love to see more of you in it.”

Alec narrowed his eyes, but when he saw Magnus literally devouring him in the clothes he was wearing, he felt his body heating up and couldn’t stay mad at the other for too long. “He likes this shirt better with these jeans,” said Alec and Isabelle happily nodded. “Also, since I was playing this little dress up for you, you could do something for me now as well. How about you give me these clothes after the show is over? I kind of like them on me.”

“Oh, yes, most definitely!” said Isabelle and went to folding her other clothes. In the meantime, Alec made his way back to his bedroom, but Magnus decided to follow him that time and Alec gave him a look of disapproval when he saw Magnus laying on his bed.

“Out, Magnus.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll go out,” said Magnus and grinned. “Just a quick question. Why did you ask you sister to give you the clothes after the fashion show?”

Alec went red in the face at the question and he felt his heart skipping a bit. Alec didn’t want to admit it, but he liked it how Magnus admired him before. He liked being stared at, no one had ever looked at him like Magnus was before. “You like how the clothes look on me?” asked Alec and Magnus nodded. “Well, that’s why. It’s for you?” he then said, his explanation sounding like a question and Magnus’ smile got wider.

“Thank you, detective,” said Magnus and before he disappeared through the wall, said: “You never cease to amaze me, Alexander,” said Magnus and Alec just stayed there, dumbfounded. He didn’t get it, they were just clothes. Why was Magnus making such a big deal out of it?


	7. Chapter 7

Alec was awakened the next morning when he heard rumbling voices coming from the kitchen, accompanied by the smell of freshly brewed coffee and freshly prepared pancakes. He slowly got up and extended his arms out, yawning and then he ran his fingers through his bed hair, rubbing his tired eyes and he started looking around his bedroom. Magnus was nowhere to be seen. Was he cooking again? Alec appreciated his last attempt at cooking, he really did, but he really didn't to be eating burnt food again. Then again, this didn't smell like something was burning at all, so he got onto his legs when he heard his stomach letting him know that it was hungry. Alec put on a robe and then slowly went into the kitchen, excited for the breakfast, which would be cooked for a change and not something he’d buy on his way to work.

However, when he stepped into the kitchen, all of his dreams of having a delicious breakfast were crushed when he saw Isabelle in front of the stove. He could see that she was wearing his apron and Alec huffed under his breath and stepped inside of the kitchen, reminding himself to stay polite. Isabelle was going through a lot at the moment with finding a new apartment and having the fashion show, so he needed to be patient with him. Cooking them a breakfast was probably her way of thanking him for letting her stay with him. Because of that, Alec stepped next to her and gave her a weak smile.

“Morning, Iz,” said Alec and Isabelle quickly turned around, giving her brother a bright smile. “What are you doing in here?”

“Cooking us some pancakes,” announced the girl happily and handed a mug of coffee to Alec. “Coffee?” she asked and Alec just took the mug without saying anything, taking a sip of it and was pleasantly surprised when the coffee didn’t taste all that bad. In the past, even brewing coffee was a challenge for Isabelle, so the detective was proud when he had the taste of coffee.

“This is actually not that bad,” commented Alec and looked at the pancakes, which seemed okay. “I’m not sure about the pancakes. I appreciate it that you’re trying to help me out for letting you stay here, but let’s face it. We both know that cooking isn’t your thing,” added Alec and Isabelle just giggled and gave him a look, as if she was hiding something.

Isabelle then carried two plates of pancakes onto the table and Alec just followed her. He then sat down next to her and stared down at the plate when she placed it in front of him. “Oh, don’t have such a sour expression, Alec,” said Isabelle and chuckled. “Try it, you’ll be surprised,” she then added and in the end Alec decided to give it a try, his jaw dropping when he had a bite of the pancake. It didn’t taste terrible; it was good actually.

“When did you learn how to cook?” asked Alec and Isabelle gave him a playful chuckle.

“It’s work in progress. I’ve been visiting cooking classes,” she said. “Raphael’s an amazing teacher.”

“Who’s Raphael?” asked Alec with his mouth full.

“He’s the one who’s leading the cooking class,” explained Isabelle. “And he’s Simon’s boyfriend, so he kind of got me into the class even though all of the places were filled. Raphael was kind enough to let me in.”

“Simon’s got a boyfriend?” asked Alec, which was news to him. Back in the day, Simon used to go out with Isabelle, but then the two of them decided to end the romantic part of their relationship. Something about them being soulmates on a friendship level, but not on romantic one, as Alec remembered.

“Yep, they’re adorable together,” said Isabelle and then stopped laughing, because she had one more thing to tell Alec, which was a bit more serious and a lot more important to her. “There’s one more thing that I need to tell you,” said Isabelle and Alec arched an eyebrow and nodded, finishing up his plate as he waited Izzy to continue. Whatever it must’ve been it looked like it was serious, so Alec allowed his sister to take all the time that she needed.

“What is it, Izzy?” asked Alec after some time, because Isabelle wasn’t saying anything.

“I just recently started seeing someone,” announced Isabelle and Alec quickly looked up and his eyes went wide. It’s been months since Izzy was with someone; she was too busy with the designing her own line of clothes, which took a lot of her free time. It was either career or love and she decided that career was at the moment more important to her.

“Really?” asked Alec and his face brightened up at the news. “Who’s the lucky guy?” he then asked playfully.

“Actually, it’s a girl. Her name is Maia,” said Isabelle and Alec blinked a few times. Well, well, this really were some news. Izzy was quiet for a few moments as well, but then smiled again when a broad smile spread across Alec’s face.

“Does mom know?” asked Alec and when Izzy shook his head, Alec snorted. “I want to see her face when you tell her,” he then added and grinned, Isabelle giggling and she shook her head. Maryse wasn’t going to be too happy about the news; it took her a lot of time to accept Alec. “I’m just kidding. She’ll accept your girlfriend news just fine. Now then,” said Alec. “Tell me more about this Maia girl.”

“Well,” started Izzy and a shy smile spread across her face. “She’s one of my models for the fashion show, we met at work you could say,” she said and Alec nodded, observing Isabelle’s smiling face. She was literally radiating happiness. “She’s gorgeous, Alec. And so funny. Wanna see her picture?” asked Izzy then, overjoyed and Alec quickly nodded, scooting closer to her when she pulled out her phone and opened up her camera roll, showing the picture to Alec and he smiled. The girl next to Izzy was cute; with a wide, beautiful smile and big brown eyes that were literally shining.

“She’s cute,” suddenly said a voice from behind them and Alec jumped when he heard someone talking, turning around and he groaned when he saw Magnus. The other appeared out of nowhere; he was too busy that morning to actually realise Magnus wasn’t even there and he frowned. Where the hell was he?

“Alec, you okay?” asked Izzy.

“Yeah. It’s just Magnus. He appeared out of nowhere and scared the shit out of me,” said Alec and his smile was gone in a blink of an eye when he felt Magnus’ emotions suddenly going through him.

It was again that horrible feeling of fear, feeling of being trapped somewhere and he let out a hitched breath as he turned to Magnus, who was staring at Isabelle’s phone. Was he reliving some of his memories again? What triggered the sudden rush of emotions? Magnus couldn’t look away from the picture that Isabelle took with Maia. In the background, there was that same bridge again. Long, big one with two towers.

“The bridge,” stammered Magnus. “W-what bridge is that, Alexander?” asked Magnus, breathless.

“Brooklyn Bridge,” replied Alec. “Oh God, did you remember something?”

Then just like that, Magnus was gone. Alec stiffened and shook his head. “Magnus, come back!” yelled out the detective, on his feet. He needed to get out, he needed to get to that bridge and see if he’d have any visions there. Isabelle, who had no idea what was going on, hurried after Alec, worried.

“What’s wrong? Where are you going?”

“Magnus,” stammered Alec and started quickly putting on clothes. “Something’s wrong, I can feel it. I need to find him,” he then added. “Can you please call Jace and tell him I’ll be late today?” he asked and Izzy nodded.

“Yes, of course.”

“Thanks, you’re the best,” said Alec, put on his shoes and jacket when he was fully dressed and then literally ran out of his apartment.

* * *

By the time Alec reached the Brooklyn Bridge he was panicking. He made his way to the pedestrian side of the bridge and made his way down it, looking around frantically, trying to see if Magnus was present there as well and he then bowed his head down in defeat, because he had a feeling that Magnus probably wasn’t there. It made sense to him earlier, Magnus saw the bridge and looked as if he was scared for his life. The bridge had to be the place where Magnus passed away, there was no other explanation for that.

Alec couldn’t afford walking away from the bridge without learning something. Jace would probably kill him if he returned empty handed, so he ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, pressing his lips together, walking up and down the pedestrian side of the bridge and he just leaned back against the fence. However, he could sense something. Even though Magnus was nowhere to be seen, he could feel something; feelings of fear and again just like before, he felt trapped. His eyes widened, because maybe, just maybe, that could mean that Magnus was somewhere next to him.

And he was right. When he turned around, he saw Magnus just a few steps away from him and he quickly hurried to him. “Oh thank God,” stammered Alec, whispering, because he didn’t want to get weird looks from the others or any other unwanted attention. “I found you. What happened to you back in my apartment? You suddenly disappeared.”

Alec received no reply, Magnus was just staring blankly in front of himself and shivers ran up the detective’s spine, swallowing thickly and he didn’t know what to do. He needed to get Magnus to snap out of it, but at the moment, Magnus was in a completely different place. He wished that he could know what was going on inside of Magnus’ head and he knew the only one was of seeing that. He needed to evoke another vision. God, he hated the visions, more than anything, but it needed to be done.

“Here goes nothing,” said Alec and gently placed his hand over Magnus’, which was gripping the bridge’s fence and he had to grab it himself, because suddenly his vision went blurry and he felt like throwing up, all of the colour draining from his face as he waited for the vision begin. And it did, it was again as if he was sucked inside of Magnus’ brain.

Suddenly, everything around him was dark and cold. Through Magnus’ eyes, Alec could see that it was night and Magnus was clearly visibly upset. He was crying, his chest hurt and he couldn’t breathe. He was outside a club, heavily intoxicated and sobbing, Alec’s heart breaking when he could hear Magnus’ loud sobs and pleads. That kind of a pain was all too familiar to Alec; a heart break. Someone had broken Magnus’ heart and the poor guy went and got himself drunk. He didn’t blame him, it was the same for him.

However, there was a difference. Alec had Jace with him that night, but Magnus was alone and all that Alec could do was to with horror in his eyes watch Magnus waddling over to his car and getting inside of it. Alec wanted to scream when Magnus started up the engine of the car and went to the street, driving fast and very recklessly, from time to time going to the other lane. Alec was in a hurry to grab the steering wheel, but he was powerless and shivers ran up his spine when he saw Magnus making a turn to the bridge. Once in the middle of it, that was when all the hell broke loose.

There was a lot of traffic on the bridge that night as Alec could see and the road was wet and slippery; it was raining. With Magnus speeding, he suddenly lost control over his vehicle and bumped into the car next to him. It was a whole lot more than just a little bump and since Magnus was going way too fast, as he hit the other car, he completely lost the control of his car and created a chain reaction; cars bumping into each other one by one, Magnus’ flipping onto the other side. As he hit the concrete, Magnus hit himself onto the head hard and was knocked out unconscious, trapped under the car. Alec could hear the screams, sirens, but all that he could see was darkness. Magnus was feeling trapped, trapped in his own body, squished under the car.

Then just like that, that was the end of the vision and he found himself standing on the bridge again, Magnus now kneeling on the floor and was a sobbing mess. The detective let out a hitched breath and tears ran down his cheeks as well. With seeing the vision, seeing Magnus’ last moments and with current Magnus’ emotions overflowing him it was just too much for him. He could still feel Magnus’ fear overflowing him and he had to sit down, feeling dizzy and he just sat down onto the floor, closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. But he couldn’t, Magnus was still very much distressed and it was one time that he couldn’t tell Magnus to calm down. How could he? He had every reason to be feeling like that. He had just witnessed his death.

Magnus felt like he was floating. Technically, he was still present there next to Alec, but at the same time, he wasn’t. He didn’t know where he was. All that he was reliving was those last moments. Him sitting in front of the wheel heavily intoxicated, reckless driving which ended up in a terrible car crash. What if he ended up killing another innocent person? Magnus’ eyes widened and he grabbed his chest. It hurt. It hurt a lot, as if someone was holding him down and squeezing the air out of him. It felt like he was dying again and then he screamed, his rush of sudden emotions causing the street lamp to explode and Alec jumped and then grabbed his own chest. He couldn’t breathe.

Alec looked over at Magnus, still gasping for air and he knew that the ghost was causing him that feeling. It was guilt; guilt was preventing him from breathing properly. Magnus was blaming himself, of course he was. The blank look on the ghost’s face scared Alec, because he didn’t know what to do. Magnus looked like he was in a trance, thinking that he might be having another vision, he placed his hand over Magnus’ and closed his eyes, hoping to evoke another vision. But, nothing happened.

Magnus could hear someone calling for him. It was a woman’s voice, he knew that she wasn’t a stranger. He knew her from somewhere, but he couldn’t see her. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the voice calling out for him. Something was off, even though he appeared to find the voice familiar, he didn’t want to remember it. The voice belonged to someone who caused him heart ache before, someone who betrayed him and he quickly snapped out of it, finding himself on the bridge again and he looked over at Alec, who still had his hand placed over his hand.

“Alexander,” whispered Magnus and Alec let out a sigh. Finally, Magnus was back. He had calmed down a bit. “What are you doing here?” he then asked and forced a little smile when he saw that Alec didn’t remove his hand from his. When Alec explained everything to him, Magnus just nodded, but said nothing. Alec was there next to him the entire time? He didn’t remember seeing him. When Alec told him that he saw the vision, Magnus stiffened and almost ended up disappearing, but Alec was quicker this time.

“Don’t leave now,” said Alec. “I know that you can lose control easily when you’re upset, but please try to remain calm. Stay with me, you shouldn’t be alone,” he said and pressed his lips together. “Come, we’ll go home and talk more there.”

“Alexander… I killed innocent people,” said Magnus. “I mean, the accident. There were a lot of people involved in it,” he said and squeezed his eyes when he remembered the screams around him. There were also children present, he could remember hearing them. “If only I wouldn’t get drunk behind the wheel, I wouldn’t… but I was so lonely, I had no one,” he then sobbed. “No one to call. She broke my heart,” he then added; he could remember a name that was connected to the voice that was calling out for him earlier. “I needed relief a-and-”

“We don’t know that yet,” said Alec, though he had his suspicions. Magnus was driving fast that night, so no one else getting seriously injured was kind of impossible, but he needed Magnus to stay calm. “I’ll look into the car crashes that happened on the bridge during the last few months. I’ll try to match your car to the ones involved. I remember the licence plate, so that way, I’ll probably be able to identify you.”

“Okay,” stammered Magnus and nodded. “But if I-”

“We don’t know yet, don’t think about it too much,” lied Alec and then stood up, his entire body still shaking. “Now, we’ll go home,” said the detective and Magnus nodded. After Alec called Jace and told him that he was taking a day off, Alec and Magnus then made their way to the subway and went back home. Alec wanted to call an Uber, but since Magnus had such a traumatic experience in the car, he decided not to do that. Also, he didn’t want Magnus waiting for him at home alone, so he ordered Magnus to follow him, which was quite an experience for the ghost to be wandering around the town.

When the two of them returned to Alec’s apartment, the detective wasted no more time and did what he wanted to do at that bridge, but didn’t because he knew how silly he’d look. He stepped really close to Magnus, closed his eyes and slowly wrapped his arms around the ghost, careful so that his arms didn’t went through Magnus. Again, with his eyes closed, he could almost touch Magnus for real and Magnus then broke down when he felt Alec’s arms around him. Despite being just a ghost, he mustered enough energy to clutch onto Alec’s jacket as he returned the hug and Alec’s heart broke again when Magnus’ loud sobs filled the room.

“Shh, you’re gonna be okay. I’ve got you,” whispered Alec, causing Magnus to cry harder.


	8. Chapter 8

''Marten Kikkert,'' announced Alec, who was down at the station, Jace next to him looking over his shoulder and Magnus was like usually sitting on top of the desk. After weeks of searching for Magnus' parents, Alec finally got a break that he needed. The sketch of Magnus’ step father matched with a picture of a man in the criminal records. The only reason why it took Alec so long to identify the man on the sketch was because the man was already deceased and lived out of the state. When he told Magnus the news, the other didn’t seem too shocked about that. For one, he still didn’t remember the man very well and second, even if he would remember, he doubted it would actually make a difference. The memories of him so far were horrible and he didn’t want to remember more of them.

Alec opened the deceased’s file and sighed when the first thing he saw was the picture of him and Magnus wrinkled his nose. On that picture, he looked even more evil and he just looked away. He was afraid that he might remember something else if he kept looking at him. “So, this is my step father,” said Magnus, not sure how to feel about that. “Well, _was._ What happened to him?”

“Well,” started Alec and leaned back in his chair. “He has quite a long list of offences was in a prison a few times, up until 2002 when he was sentenced for life in prison. Disturbances of public peace and order, possession of illegal drugs, assaulting a policeman, making threats to women, violence,” went on by saying Alec and then shook his head. He could go on and on. The man really was a scumbag.

“That sounds like him, yeah,” said Magnus and shook his head. He didn’t get it… what did his mother see on him? Maybe he threatened her to be with him? Who knew, maybe he tricked his mother into marrying him with lies and only then showed his true face, making it seem impossible to her to get out of situation in which she ended up.

“What’s he saying?” asked Jace, interested.

“Not much, just taking everything in, I suppose,” said Alec and rubbed his forehead. “In 2002 he was arrested for murdering one of his ex-wives,” said the detective and Magnus stiffened up. Well, that couldn’t be good. Was it his mother? Magnus felt sick and then just shook his head when he saw the picture of the murdered woman. That wasn’t her. “And was found guilty and was sentenced for life in prison. Ended up hanging himself in 2009.”

“A-any information about my mother?” asked Magnus and his eyes filled with fear when Alec flipped the page, his mother’s picture in that file as well. “O-oh God,” stammered Magnus and Alec let out a hitched breath. Jace also stiffened up when he saw what the file said.

“Anita Kikkert,” said Alec and his voice was shaking. “Went missing in 2002, Marten being the main suspect. It is said Marten to be a suspect of her disappearance and possibly of another murder, but so couldn’t really pronounce her dead since they haven’t found her body. Also, there wasn’t enough evidence that would connect him to the crime. But as they were interrogating him, he said some things that made the investigators believe that she was dead.”

“No, no,” whispered Magnus and shook his head. “She can’t be dead.”

“She’s been missing for 15 years, Magnus. Even though they haven’t found her body… all of these evidence, plus the time span,” whispered Alec softly and then bowed his head down when Magnus cursed. “I’m so sorry,” he then added and Jace sighed.

“Look, here it says that she was a single mother before marrying Marten,” said Jace. “Hold up… both of them are currently missing persons. The child also went missing,” pointed out Jace and Alec pressed his lips together, because Marten was again suspected for the child’s disappearance. Jace narrowed his eyes when he read the name of the child. The name written there wasn’t Magnus’ and Alec was just as confused as his partner.

Magnus’ eyes widened when he saw the name and he let out a hitched breath. He remembered something again. It was true, he remembered coming home from school one day and his mother was nowhere to be seen. But the step father was there and was wearing an evil grin on his face, telling him that his mother was gone for good. Fearing that he’d have to live alone with his step-father, or worse, being murdered by him, Magnus got the hell out of there. He grabbed everything that he got and left that night, sobbing as he left without his mother. He wanted to go searching for her, but after Marten told him all of that, he knew that his mother was probably dead, murdered by him. Plus, he promised him that he’d join her sooner or later, so Magnus was terrified of him.

That was when he ran away, only 12 years old. Little did he know that his step-father was arrested right the next morning. Little Magnus jumped onto the first train and travelled far away, stopping in New York, gave himself a new name and decided to start over. He gave himself a new name, because he didn’t want the authorities to find him and he spent the next few months in hiding. Little Magnus was afraid that Marten would come back for him and then punish him for running away like that, probably killing him. He wanted to go to the police, but Marten had beaten it into his core that no one would believe him. And the next few years were pure hell, life wasn’t easy. Especially not in New York. To get the needed money he did many things that he wasn’t very proud of, but anything was better than living at home.

“That’s my real name,” said Magnus when he saw the confusion on Alec’s face.

“Your real name?”

“I changed it after I ran away,” said Magnus and tried to sound as emotionless as he could. “I needed to start over, to get away from all of that, so that’s the best way to start over,” he said and let out a sad laughter. He couldn’t remember the full name that he had given himself.

“He didn’t go missing, he ran away after his mother went missing,” said Alec and Jace slowly nodded.

“Magnus Something,” said Magnus and shook his head. He still couldn’t remember the last name that he had chosen out for himself. He knew that his name and last name sounded pretty awesome together, but he couldn’t remember it and he cursed. “I can’t remember the last name that I chose for myself though,” stammered the ghost and looked at Alec apologetically. “I’m so sorry,” he then whispered and looked down.

“Hey, hey, it’s completely okay,” said Alec quickly, not wanting Magnus to feel guilty about that. It wasn’t in his power that he couldn’t remember. Alec could still remember Magnus’ last moments alive and it wasn’t really that surprised that Magnus was having a hard time remembering things. “You’ll remember, so don’t worry. Besides, we have lots of things to work with now, so I’m sure we’ll be able to locate your full identity pretty soon.”

 “So he changed his name from this to Magnus?” asked Jace and pressed his lips together. “Well, this doesn’t really help us, does it?” asked the blond one, kind of irritated. “Is there a last name attached to that name?” asked Jace and Magnus gave him an uninterested look.

“He can’t remember,” explained Alec calmly.

“Oh, that’s just fantastic,” said Jace and rolled his eyes. “Look, Alec, I love you, man, but instead of wasting your time on this ghost, why can’t you pay attention to the case we’re currently working on? You keep coming late to work or there are days that you just decide to call in sick,” added Jace stubbornly, still pissed at his partner for leaving him alone.

“ _Wasting_ my time?” snapped Alec. “I’m trying to be more supportive of the spirits and you’re now being such an ass!”

“Oh please,” said Jace and rolled his eyes again. “You never liked your gift. Now this ‘Magnus’ decides to waltz into your life and you’re ready to drop everything you’re doing and go help him out?”

“How can you be so selfish?” asked Alec. “Magnus is my _friend_. Of course I’ll help him out!” stated Alec stubbornly and felt his anger rising.

“Alexander, mind no attention to him. Captain America is just jealous because you’re rather spending time with me than with him,” started Magnus and Alec nodded. It was true; acting like that was way out of Jace’s character and he only acted like a complete asshole when he was jealous. But of course, Jace’s big ego would never allow him to admit that he was jealous.

“True, the Detective Douche is just jealous,” said Alec, the nickname sort of slipping out and Jace gave him an offended look. He didn’t know about Magnus’ little nickname for him. Alec could see that Jace was demanding an explanation, but he would have to wait. “I saw the licence plate of the car you were driving that night of the accident and I wrote it down. This way I’ll be able to get more information about you,” said Alec, paying no attention to Jace and Magnus just gave him a weak smile, but dropped it as soon as Alec turned away. A part of him wanted to scream and yell at Alec; he didn’t want to learn more about himself.

Magnus had a few reasons. First off, his life sucked. He had an abusive step-father, his mother went missing, he ran away from home at the age of 12, before he died he got heavily drunk after a woman broke his heart and he probably ended up killing more people in that accident. Also, if Alec would be able to learn more about him, then Magnus was terrified that he would learn what his unfinished business was. After completing it, he’d have to leave Alec and he didn’t want. The sudden rush of terror made Alec look at him, because he could feel his fear, but as the detective looked around and was about to ask Magnus what was bothering him, Simon came, bringing them the information of the case they were currently working on.

“Here are the details of the autopsy,” said Simon and handed Jace the file, who thanked him and then Simon looked over at Alec and gave him a little smile. Since the two of them had a little chat, Alec was trying his best to not be a dick to the spirits and tried to help them even after their cases were solved. He hadn’t gotten anyone into the light yet, but there was Simon for that. As long as Alec remained kind to them, Simon was glad about that. “So, detective Lightwood,” said Simon and Alec arched an eyebrow. “Little birdy told me that you stopped being so uptight.”

Alec straightened himself up, delighted to hear that. Other spirits had probably told Simon that and he was glad about that. With the help of him and Magnus, he learned how not to be such an ass to others. “Really? Well, that’s good to hear.”

“What’s Sheldon talking about, Alexander?” asked Magnus and gave Alec a strange look.

“It’s Simon. My name’s Simon,” huffed Simon and rolled his eyes. Up until then, he never really spoke to Magnus, but he clearly heard him before and slowly it’s been driving him mad to hear Magnus addressing him as Sheldon, because he was clearly doing it on purpose.

“Simon, Sheldon… both sound pretty the same to me and-” started Magnus, then his eyes widened when he realised Simon was talking to him. “Wait, you can hear me?” asked Magnus and Alec slowly nodded, just as Simon did.

“He can hear ghosts,” said Alec and Jace looked pretty surprised.

“And why am I the last one to learn this?”

“Oh tell Detective Douche to calm down. I had no idea about this as well,” said Magnus and Simon snorted when he heard the nickname.

“Detective Douche?”

“Yep, that’s Goldilocks over there,” said Magnus and grinned when he heard Simon snickering at the nickname.

“It suits him well,” said Simon and while Alec laughed as well, Jace just turned around and shook his head, calling Clary, because he didn’t want to be dealing with the other idiots present in the room. While Simon and Alec continued poking fun at Jace as he was on the phone with Clary, Magnus just held back that time, his head bowed down and he couldn’t muster even a smile anymore. He couldn’t; he was too worried and scared of what else he might learn about himself. But the fact that he’d have to leave Alec one day stung the most.

Magnus gritted his teeth and cursed; just how did he allow himself to care so deeply about Alec?

* * *

Later that day, when Magnus and Alec were home alone and with Izzy moving out just the previous day, the ghost was kind of happy to have some much needed time alone with the detective. As they came back home, Alec went to take a quick shower, while Magnus was nervously walking around the apartment, his confusion and distress causing the lights to flicker, but he couldn’t help himself. His bad mood only worsened when he saw the files, which Alec brought home with him and he didn’t know what to do. His first reaction was to hide the files far away from Alec, so that he couldn’t continue the investigation. However, he couldn’t do that; a lot of hard work went into this and Magnus couldn’t do that to Alec.

Magnus’ distress started rising and without knowing it himself, he made the curtains in Alec’s living room flutter, then his energy going to the file on the coffee table. He made the file fly across the room, all of the papers scattering all over the room as it landed against the wall and Magnus’ eyes widened in shock. He had no idea that he could be so powerful. Also, he knew that he should focus his attention to another object, but all that he was thinking was that file and with horror in his eyes he watched how all of the papers were now covering the living room.

“Shit,” stammered Magnus and he sighed when Alec suddenly stepped out of the shower, all finished with the shower.

As Alec was taking the shower, he knew that something was wrong. Magnus was awfully quiet at the station. Not also that, but usually he’d come and poke fun at him when he was in the shower. But not that day. However, he knew that he shouldn’t be too surprised. Magnus had remembered again some horrible things from his past, so that was why. He hurried with the shower, wanting to be done as soon as possible. He didn’t want Magnus to be alone for too long, possibly disappearing on him again. However, weight lifted off his chest when he saw Magnus in the living room, frowning when he saw papers laying everywhere.

“Magnus, what happened in here?” asked Alec softly and Magnus angrily sighed.

“I did,” said the ghost and rolled his eyes. “I was upset again and made this mess,” he said under his breath, angry with himself. Alec, on the other hand, didn’t seem too upset and he just quickly collected everything back into the file, putting it away since it was clearly giving Magnus anxiety.

“It’s okay,” said Alec softly and gave Magnus a little smile, going to the couch, sitting onto it, signing Magnus to come closer. “Come here,” he then added and Magnus appeared next to him, but refused to look him into the eyes and Alec felt his chest filling again with the tight, annoying feeling. “Hey, look at me,” said Alec and Magnus forced himself to turn around. “Wanna a talk?”

“I don’t know if talking will do me much good,” whispered Magnus, lights flickering again, this time not stopping, because Magnus couldn’t stop himself. Currently everything was too much and he wasn’t even embarrassed to admit it out loud that he was scared. Correction, he was terrified of the things there were left for him to remember. He’d much rather just spend the moment with Alec without having to remember about his past. “I just-”

“Yeah?” asked Alec softly and came closer to Magnus, placed his hand on top of Magnus and the ghost almost smiled when Alec warmed up his body, Alec feeling the fear through their special bond and he bit into his lower lip. “Tell me what’s on your mind. Come on, let me help you. You did so much for me so far, so let me be now a shoulder for you to lean on. Please.”

Magnus’ chest hurt at that and he felt tears going to his eyes; he loved Alec, God. He was amazing and he just shook his head, agreeing that for the time being he’d forget about those feelings and rather focus on something else. “I’m just afraid,” whispered Magnus. “I wish we could stop with the investigation for a little bit. I’m not ready… it’s too fast. I’m afraid of what I might learn. So far things about myself are pretty grim and well-”

“Okay,” breathed Alec, nodding and he placed his hand away from Magnus’, but didn’t go away. Instead, he scooted closer to the distressed spirit and slowly brought his arms up, placing his palm against Magnus’ cheek. Although he could only feel gentle breeze against his palm, he didn’t care, because it was clear that Magnus felt the touch and that was all that mattered. If only there was a way that he could hug Magnus for real, if only he wasn’t… Alec let out a hitched breath when he realised his selfish wishes and he quickly shook his head. “If this is giving you anxiety, you should’ve told me earlier. I don’t want you to feel like this, it’s completely understandable you’re afraid. I just wish you’d tell me sooner.”

“I’m sorry, I was just…” started explaining Magnus, his voice trailing off and he almost closed his eyes as Alec touched his cheek, his chest tightening again and he cursed. Didn’t Alec know what he was doing to him? Of course not, Alec was the densest person he’d met so far, so he probably didn’t even realise his feelings.

Alec felt his heart making a skip and the annoying heat spread from his neck up to his ears and he tried to control his breathing. “You said you wanted me to stop the investigation?” asked Alec softly and Magnus nodded. “Fine, then for a week, I’ll stop working on your case, okay? This way, Jace will stop nagging me as well.”

A week was too short, but Magnus knew that he shouldn’t be too greedy, so he just nodded and gave Alec a thankful smile. “Thank you, Detective Grumpy,” said Magnus and Alec chuckled. “I owe you so much. I honestly don’t know how to repay you for all of this.”

“You owe me nothing, I’m more than happy to help you out,” said Alec softly. “You can repay me back in hugs,” blurted out Alec, his eyes widening when he realised he said that out loud and a sly smirk spread across Magnus’ face, waggling his eyebrows.

“That much I can do,” said Magnus and hugged Alec like they usually did, Alec keeping his eyes closed and he smiled when his heart started beating faster.

“Magnus, don’t be afraid,” whispered Alec. “I’m here for you so you have nothing to be afraid of,” he then added and a sad smile spread across Magnus’ face, Alec’s eyes widening when something finally started sinking in. With Magnus holding him in his arms like this and his heart speeding so much, the detective wasn’t so sure what he felt for Magnus anymore.

Was it really just friendship or something more?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if Cassie gave Magnus' mother and step-dad any names in the books (didn't read all of them) so I decided to make them up.  
> I hope you liked the chapter


	9. Chapter 9

''So where are we going?'' asked Magnus as he was sitting on Alec's bed and was watching the other one getting dressed up. The plan was that the two of them were going to go out for a change. It would be an odd experience for Alec with Magnus not really being visible to other people, but he didn't care anymore what others thought about him. He made a promise to Magnus to stop working on his case for a little while and to make Magnus' mind at ease, he decided to take him out that day. It was the third day of him not working on Magnus' case and Jace seemed to be in a better mood, Magnus as well, his usual cockiness slowly returning and Alec could only smile. He even liked when Magnus would poke fun at him. Plus, they had gotten even closer, if that was even possible, and Alec was the happiest when Magnus was around.

“I was thinking that we could go to the cinema,” said Alec and turned around, walking to the mirror to take a look at himself and he quickly fixed his hair. He was currently wearing the clothes that Isabelle gave to him after the fashion show and he glanced at Magnus, who was quite obviously staring at him and admiring his body in those perfect clothes, Alec feeling his confidence growing. He chose those clothes for a reason, he wanted Magnus to look at him that way again and now that he was, Alec flushed and cleared his throat. “So, these clothes will do, right?”

Magnus wasn’t listening anymore as he was too busy with staring at Alec’s ass and arms, just nodding when he was told that they were going to go to the cinema. “Yes, they’re perfect,” blurted out Magnus and then suddenly appeared next to Alec and bit into his lower lip. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” asked Magnus under his breath.

“Doing what?” asked Alec playfully and Magnus chuckled.

“Making yourself look irresistible,” said Magnus, who was now walking around Alec in a circle, reminding him of a cat and Alec only grinned, but said nothing. “Well, I’m not complaining. You got these clothes for me after all, huh?” asked the ghost and Alec felt his cheeks heating up again. “You wanna look good for me?” asked Magnus.

“Yeah, I do,” blurted out Alec without thinking and Magnus grinned.

“I like it when you’re being honest, detective,” said Magnus with a chuckle and then crept behind Alec, placing his hands onto his shoulders and shivers ran up Alec’s body, but not in a good way. He was completely caught off guard by the touch and he tightly closed his eyes, letting out a small gasp when he felt Magnus’ hands travelling lower. “I feel flattered, you go to such lengths to look good for me. Why?”

Alec quickly opened his eyes at the question and made a step away from Magnus. “I’m not-”

“Do you perhaps like it when I compliment you?” teased Magnus and Alec felt his throat going dry when Magnus started walking towards him, he quickly taking a step back and he cursed when his back hit the wall, Magnus still coming closer, trapping him between himself and the wall. Well, Alec could easily walk right through Magnus, but his rational way of thinking flew out of the window and he just kept looking down. “Or maybe you like the way I look at you?” was another question and Alec cursed. He hated it that he could read him like an open book.

“Don’t get too cocky,” said Alec. “This has nothing to do with any of that.”

“Hmm, you’re not being honest again, detective,” said Magnus and then backed away, still wearing that annoying grin on his face and Alec wished that he could wipe it away. Magnus, on the other hand, was having a blast. Messing around with Alec like that was always fun, but now he knew where Alec’s limits were and he knew he should respect them. “I’m only kidding. But you do look nice, Alexander,” said Magnus softly then and Alec gave him a shy smile and then pressed his lips together, forming loose fists with his hands.

“Thank you,” said Alec, not really being used to getting compliments, so he felt awkward. In situations like that, one was supposed to return the favour, right? “You look nice too,” he then blurted out and Magnus chuckled.

“Don’t I always look nice?” asked Magnus cockily and Alec nodded.

“Yeah you do,” said Alec and Magnus’ soft laughter made him flush again, so he quickly backed away. “W-what I meant was that you… um. You know.”

“You’re adorable, Alexander,” whispered Magnus and then came really close to Alec, whose eyes widened when Magnus brought his face really close to his and Alec’s jaw dropped when without any warnings Magnus leaned closer and pressed his lips against his cheek. It felt nothing like a kiss, but just knowing what was supposed to be, Alec felt his heart going to his throat, reading to jump out. Magnus pulled back and looked up and down Alec, his chest warming up. “Really adorable,” he then added before he disappeared through the wall, leaving Alec completely confused and at loss for words alone in the bedroom. Alec sat down onto his bed and placed his fingers against the cheek where Magnus kissed him, letting out a shaky breath.

What the hell was that?

* * *

During the way to the cinema and throughout the entire movie, Alec kept spacing out and he paid no attention to the movie at all. How could he? Magnus kissed him – even though it was only on the cheek, it still counted – and he didn’t know what to make of it. They were supposed to be _friends_ , but _friends_ didn’t kiss on cheek like that, did they? Well, they did. But he also called him adorable _and_ told him he was irresistible multiple times now. At first Alec thought it was just teasing and tasteless flirting, but lately he found himself to be wishing there was more to that. And he knew that a wish like that was completely stupid and illogical, given that Magnus was a ghost, but nonetheless, he couldn’t deny what his heart was telling him.

Magnus was sitting next to Alec during the movie, luckily the theatre was almost empty so no one could disturb them. While Alec was munching on popcorn and pretending that he was watching the movie, Magnus just stared at Alec, not interested in movie at all. How could he look at it when he had a handsome detective, wearing his favourite clothes only for him, sitting next to him? Magnus grinned and he then leaned over to Alec, deciding to make a move on him, just to see his reaction. With that on his mind, Magnus wrapped his arm around Alec, who shivered as the coldness overcame him and then looked at Magnus.

“Magnus,” hissed Alec and the ghost only waggled his eyebrows, but said nothing, looking past Alec and leaned up to ‘watch’ the movie, Alec narrowing his eyes when he saw that Magnus was again messing around with him. Perfect. “Remove the hand,” whispered the detective then and Magnus grinned.

“Why?” asked Magnus. “Am I distracting you from watching the movie, detective?” asked Magnus. “Then again, it’s not like you were paying attention to it before as well, so what’s the harm?” said the spirit playfully, but as he received a glare from Alec, quickly removed his arm, his good mood staying untouched. Magnus knew why Alec was spacing out, it had to do with that kiss earlier. It was adorable how much a little kiss flustered Alec. Magnus couldn’t help himself earlier, Alec was being just too adorable for him not to make a move on him. Besides, it was just a little, harmless kiss.

Alec sighed and then turned away from Magnus. He could only thank the God that the lights were switched off, because he was probably red as a tomato at that moment and if Magnus would see that, there would be no end to the teasing. Much to Alec’s luck, Magnus kept his hands to himself until the movie was over, so Alec had all the time in the world to stop thinking about the kiss earlier or the way his heart skipped a beat when Magnus placed his arms around him. As the movie came to an end, Alec made his way out of the cinema and was looking around, thinking what should they do next; maybe going for a walk was a good idea? Alec was tempted to go grab something to eat, but since Magnus couldn’t eat, that seemed like a stupid idea in the end to the detective.

Magnus grinned widely when he saw Alec coming up with a plan where to go next. Magnus himself couldn’t really care less, as long as they were together, they were bound to have a good time. For the first time in a while, Magnus was having fun again and it was all thanks to Alexander. He knew it wouldn’t last, he was already counting the days until Alec was going to resume the investigation about him. However, as much as that worried him, he tried not to let that bother him too much. He was happy to be in a bubble he and Alec created for themselves, just the two of them, without anyone else to bother them. Every bubble popped sooner or later, so Magnus knew he needed to make the best out of the time they had left together.

“So, what’s our next stop, Alexander?” asked Magnus, going around Alec in circles and then he smiled.

“Maybe we could go for a walk?” suggested Alec.

“A walk together sounds lovely,” said Magnus and his smile brightened Alec’s world as they walked together in silence. No words needed to be exchanged, they both knew they were having a great time. Magnus noticed that Alec kept stealing glances at him and he bit into his lower lip as he pretended not to notice that. It was adorable. “This feels almost like a date,” blurted out Magnus, feeling all giddy inside and Alec gasped when he heard that, his heart skipping a beat yet again.

“What did you say?” asked Alec and when Magnus saw how red his face was, he only laughed.

“Relax, it was only a joke,” said Magnus. Not really, he didn’t want it to be a joke. He was just going to pretend that it didn’t hurt when Alec sighed in relief.

“Oh, okay,” said Alec, unsure why Magnus looked so disappointed. At the same time, he wouldn’t mind a date with Magnus at all. If the circumstances were different and Magnus wasn’t… “So,” started Alec. “How did you like the movie?”

“To be honest?” Magnus looked at Alec and chuckled. “I don’t even know what the movie was about. I was too busy staring at your handsome face,” said Magnus playfully and Alec cursed.

“Stop messing around!”

“Who said I was messing around?” asked Magnus, laughing when Alec loudly groaned, attracting attention from the others around him and he just bowed his head when a little boy pointed at him and started laughing. “Shh, keep your voice down, detective,” said Magnus as they slowly started returning back to Alec’s place.

Alec kept quiet the entire way back, but he was determined to ask Magnus a few questions when they would be back in his apartment. The most important one being that kiss on the cheek earlier; he needed some answers. If he wouldn’t, he would drive himself crazy with overthinking the situation. He needed to know what that was all about.

* * *

When back in apartment, Alec kept silent for a few moments, until he plucked up enough courage and was determined to come to the bottom of some things. With that kiss still on his mind from before, he couldn’t concentrate on anything else and what was even worse was that Magnus appeared to know exactly what he did to him. “Magnus, we need to have a talk,” said Alec suddenly, as he was sitting on the couch in his living room and Magnus quickly appeared next to him, looking as excited as ever.

“Of course,” said Magnus, more than happy to have a talk with the detective. _His_ detective. Magnus waited for Alec to continue and he patiently waited to hear what Alec wanted him to talk about.

“Did you have a good time today?” asked Alec softly.

“Of course I did,” said Magnus happily. “I’m happy that you listened to my request. Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah,” said Alec and then took in a deep breath, scooting closer to Magnus, who was now sitting very close to him. “Can I ask something else?” was another question, this one coming out a lot slower and careful.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Before we went out you… kissed me,” said Alec and felt his face heating up, Magnus humming in amusement. “What was that all about?”

“Just a kiss,” said Magnus simply. “Nothing more. Besides, it was only on your cheek,” he said and noticed that Alec looked extremely shy for some reason. Cocking his head to the side, Magnus knew that he needed to keep away, but he couldn’t. With Alec looking so tempting, he was dying to kiss those full, pouty lips. “Did you dislike it?” whispered Magnus and Alec shook his head.

“No,” breathed Alec out and swallowed thickly. “It felt nice.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” said Magnus with a chuckle and moved closer to Alec. “Why so bashful, darling?” asked Magnus softly and Alec shrugged.

“Am not,” mumbled Alec, but he knew that he wasn’t fooling anyone when Magnus brought his face really close to him and Alec felt his throat getting dry, his face flushed into deeper shades of red and his body warmed up. Magnus decided to try something out; slowly, he reached up with his hand and then with it, cupped Alec’s face. The detective’s eyes widened and he wrinkled his nose when he felt Magnus touching him like that; he didn’t like the cold and almost slimy feeling. Then again, he said nothing and his heart skipped a beat when he found himself looking into Magnus’ handsome face. “What are you doing, Magnus?” asked Alec softly and Magnus shrugged.

“Can’t I?” asked Magnus, his voice soft and low, almost like a whisper and in the end, Alec gave in, he couldn’t say no to the spirit when he asked him like that. Alec closed his eyes slowly and soon the coldness in Magnus’ fingers touching his cheek transformed into a feeling of an actual palm resting there. Alec parted his lips and let out a hitched breath, pressing his fingers into his jeans and Magnus’ happy smile transformed into a sad one.

It wasn’t fair, no matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t fair at all. He wanted to be with Alec so much that it hurt and yet he couldn’t. He was already jealous of whoever was going to get Alec’s love in the future, long after he’d leave and be all forgotten. A lump formed in Magnus’ throat and it only hit him then how much he actually loved Alec. He’d do anything for him, no matter what it took, he would do anything to get a chance to be with him.

“Magnus,” whispered Alec and pressed his lips when he saw the sad expression on Magnus’ face.  He slowly placed his own palm against Magnus’ cheek, holding it up in the air, but just like the time they hugged, Alec felt Magnus’ energy on his skin, while Magnus’ body warmed up thanks to Alec’s palm. “Can you feel this?” asked Alec softly and he began moving his thumb and Magnus nodded, his breath shaking.

“Yeah,” said Magnus and placed his own hand on top of Alec’s, the latter’s smile widening.

“I’m glad,” said Alec and then bit into his lower lip. He then quietly cursed; his heart was speeding up again. They hadn’t crossed a line yet, they were just friends, who were trying to make each other feel better. Alec frowned and bowed his head down; who the hell was he fooling? All that he wanted to do was to press his lips against Magnus’. It was then that he finally admitted to himself he was in love with Magnus. Well, fuck. Now what?

“Can I try out something else?” whispered Magnus against Alec’s lips and he swore that he felt Magnus’ breath against his cheek. Well, it was probably just his imagination, but his body shuddered when he felt Magnus’ hand against his neck and the ghost was grinning now. Alec was adorable like that. He then gently touched Alec’s lower lip, running his thumb over it and he felt his own chest tightening up at the desire to kiss him. Even if he would kiss Alec like that, it wouldn’t be the same. He was just a ghost, so of course it wouldn’t be the same. Besides, stealing a kiss like that was so out of the line and-

“Yeah,” blurted out Alec without thinking and Magnus finally quieted up that annoying voice of logic in his mind.

“Alexander,” said Magnus softly and then came closer to the detective, finally closing the distance between them and did what he was dreaming of doing for weeks now. He pressed his lips against Alec’s, who froze at the contact.

Alec kept his eyes tightly shut when he suddenly felt something pressing against his lips. When he realised that it was a kiss, his body heated up, but he didn’t return it. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he was afraid of messing something up. It was a strange feeling, he could feel Magnus’ lips there, but if he tried to move his lips, the feeling disappeared. That was why he held himself from kissing back Magnus as well. But, it was a pleasant feeling, just a simple touch was able to make him feel so many things.

Magnus was afraid that he might had done something wrong by just kissing the detective out of the blue. However, he saw a smile spreading across Alec’s lips and he went in for more, gasping as he gave Alec another kiss. It was a pleasant feeling; there wasn’t any dramatic emotions going through Magnus, but it was pleasant feeling which warmed him up even though he was a ghost, he felt alive and he grinned when he pulled back and Alec slowly opened his eyes, completely dazed and Magnus mused when he saw Alec running his fingers over his lips.

“Magnus, what-”

“Shh, everything’s okay,” whispered Magnus as he kissed the detective again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of your lovely comments, kudos and support. You guys are the best seriously ^^  
> I hope you're gonna enjoy this chapter as well ;)

''Alexander, will you stop ignoring me?'' asked Magnus, pissed. Alec was currently at work, Magnus tagging along without Alec's permission. It's been a few days since their kiss and since then Alec kept ignoring Magnus the best that he could. He didn't know what to do, so ignoring and pretending that the kiss didn’t happen seemed like the best idea to the detective. At the time it seemed like a good idea to allow the spirit kiss him, but that was just because they were caught up in a weird, emotional moment. If he was thinking with his head, then he’d never allow Magnus to actually go for it. But he didn’t do that and in the end, he found himself in an impossible situation.

“Shush,” whispered Alec and glared past Jace, looking directly at Magnus, who was now sitting on top of one of the empty desks and clicked with his tongue when he saw how annoyed Magnus looked. Like, what was he supposed to do? Maybe be an adult and have a talk about it, yes… but running away from it seemed so much easier, so he decided to go with that for the time being. Magnus, on the other hand, was pissed to see Alec shutting him out again, but this time he wasn’t going anywhere. He was determined to make Alec talk to him about what happened.

Pushing the conversation would be too much, but then again, he was desperate to let Alec know how he truly felt. Alec still didn’t resume the investigation about him. One of the reasons being too busy with the current case he was working on. Then again, he made a promise to Magnus to stop working on it for a little while and even though he was in a process of ignoring him, he didn’t want to break his promise. Magnus was glad about that, but he hated that Alec was acting so immature. In his eyes, it was childish to be pushing off such an important conversation. But then again, deep inside he understood him. Alec still had his walls up around his heart and didn’t want to get hurt. If only Magnus was alive, he wouldn’t push it and wait. But now time wasn’t really on his side. He knew that something was off with him, he kept hearing voices calling out for him and that terrified him because he didn’t know what they were. Yet, he didn’t tell Alec about that because he didn’t want him to worry too much.

“Don’t you shush me,” said Magnus angrily and appeared next to Alec, who was now typing a report for the police station and huffed under his breath as he was still being ignored. “Can you please stop typing for a second and just pay attention to me?!” snapped Magnus, not knowing why he was being so annoyed. Maybe it was jealousy, he didn’t know.

“I’m in a middle of investigation,” hissed Alec. “A very important one and you’re distracting me,” said Alec, annoyance kicking in and he glared at Magnus, who looked offended.

“So, the investigation is more important than me?” blurted out Magnus. He didn’t really mean what he was saying, he was all too aware that his words were ridiculous, but he couldn’t stop more stupid words from spilling out. “Didn’t you say you wanted to help me? So why are you working on something else when you should be working on _my_ case.”

“You were the one who asked me to stop the investigation for a little while!” stated Alec and finally looked up from the computer screen and groaned when he saw Magnus standing there next to him. “I don’t get it, what do you want from me?”

“Stop ignoring me,” said Magnus, sounding almost desperate and he pressed his lips together. “And talk to me.”

“I can’t now,” said Alec, but then finally decided to stop being an ass and he sighed. The look in Magnus’ eyes got to him and he shrugged. Magnus, on the other hand, got angrier and Alec panicked as lights in the room started flickering like crazy, Jace whimpering next to him, looking around. “Magnus, stop this. We’ll talk later, okay? When I come back home, we’ll-”

“Later… later, you always say _later,_ ” said Magnus stubbornly and the fact that Alec was telling him to calm down pissed him off even more.

“Alec what the hell is going on?” asked Jace and quickly backed away as his computer suddenly turned off, Alec knowing that it was Magnus’ doing and he just rolled his eyes, arching an eyebrow and he gave Magnus an unimpressed look. The look on his face made Magnus’ blood boil and as Alec turned around to continue talking, his computer as well turned off, only to be turned on again, big red, bold letters appearing on the screen.

_Stop._

_Stop._

_Talk to me._

_Idiot._

Jace’s eyes widened when he saw that and he shuddered. “Alec, this is freaking me out. Tell him to stop,” whispered Jace and Magnus glared at him, but then went back to Alec, plugging his computer from the wall outlet, a victorious smile appearing on his face.

“Now, we can talk.”

“You idiot,” said Alec. He had it enough. Because of Magnus he had lost everything that he had done that day, which was hours of hard work and since he forgot to save the file, that was it for him, seeing red when he saw a smirk on Magnus’ face. “Do you realise what you just did? I worked for _hours_ on that and now it’s all gone,” said Alec, trying to keep his voice down so that his co-workers wouldn’t look into his direction, but he couldn’t help himself. “I was almost done,” he then whispered and then buried his face into his palms. “Luke’s gonna kill me,” he then added and closed his eyes. He was already running late on the report and that was the last day that he had to hand it to the chief.

“He did that?” asked Jace in disbelief. “Okay, I know that I don’t know you, but that was a very shitty move to pull, Magnus,” said Jace and went over to his partner. “Hey, I’ll help you, okay? This way, it’ll be faster and Luke won’t even know.”

Magnus narrowed his eyes and felt a stab of guilt in his chest, but then jealousy came again when Alec thanked Blondie. This couldn’t be any worse. Alec was rather talking to the Douche than him! His mind completely overcome with jealousy didn’t allow him to think clear and he groaned when Alec came closer to Jace’s computer.

“Alexander-”

“Stay out of this,” shut him off Alec.

“What’s up with the two of you?” whispered Jace. “Trouble in paradise?” asked Jace, trying to be funny, but he failed miserably. His poor attempt at humour pushed Magnus over the edge and with horror in his eyes, Jace watched how the stapler suddenly started floating and Alec’s eyes widened when he saw that Magnus was trying to scare him away by chasing him around with the stapler. Petty and dumb move in his book.

“Cut it out, Magnus!” said Alec, who had it enough. “Stop with this stupid jealousy.”

“I’m not jealous!”

“Yes you are,” said Alec. “Jace has nothing to do with this, so leave him out of it,” he then said and when Magnus heard that Alec was defending the Douche, his stomach dropped and the stapler suddenly fell onto the floor. “Now, get out,” said Alec and Magnus felt shivers run up his spine.

“What?”

“Just leave,” said Alec softly this time. “We’ll talk when I come back home. Wait for me there, okay?” he then said, trying to keep himself calm and not jump down Magnus’ throat. He knew what happened the last time he ended up yelling at Magnus and he didn’t want Magnus to go missing for weeks again.

“Fine, whatever,” said Magnus stubbornly and disappeared, but didn’t go home. Instead, he decided to pay Sheldon a visit, to whom he poured his soul out, telling him just what kind of traitor Alec was. While Alec got back to re-doing all of the work he had done earlier, Simon was stuck with listening to Magnus’ complaining. It got annoying at some point, but the poor guy didn’t have the heart to tell him to go away, so he ended up listening to Magnus’ whining the entire afternoon.

* * *

By the time Alec came back home it was already pretty late into the evening since he had to do his work all over again, but at the same time, he was kind of happy about that. Because he was at work for the entire day, he had a good excuse for avoiding Magnus a little longer. However, he knew that the two of them needed to have a talk when he would come back home. Continuing like that wasn’t going anywhere, so as he stepped inside of his apartment, he started mentally preparing for what was going to come. A very pissed off Magnus was probably waiting for him inside, and he was right. Magnus was waiting for him in front of the entrance door, standing there for a good hour.

Magnus didn’t know what was taking Alec so long to come back home, but he was determined to wait there until the detective was going to show up. He knew that he was being irrational and childish, but at that moment, that didn’t matter. He was desperate to talk to Alec, so he didn’t think about anything else than himself. Which was kind of selfish, Magnus thought, but whatever. He straightened himself up when the door finally unlocked and he turned on the lights, narrowing his eyes when Alec stepped inside, surprised to see Magnus waiting for him already.

“Oh, um, hi,” said Alec awkwardly and took off his jacket. “You’ve been waiting for me?”

“What do you think?” asked Magnus, annoyed. “Why are you so late today? Avoiding me again?”

“Believe it or not, no. Not everything’s about you, Magnus,” cut him off Alec, but then bit his own tongue and took in a deep breath, trying to control his words and emotions. “No, I had to stay there over time because Luke needed me to do something,” said Alec, lying, but he didn’t have the energy to be arguing again about the lost work that resulted in Magnus shutting off his computer like that. He didn’t want to fight anymore.

“Oh,” said Magnus, his annoyance slowly fading away and he deflated, looking down, stepping back, so that Alec could walk into his living room and the ghost the followed the other into the living room, sitting onto the couch next to Alec. “So you weren’t avoiding me?”

“No, not this time,” said Alec softly. “And I’m sorry. I realise that I shouldn’t be running away from that conversation… about the kiss, but,” stammered the detective. “I don’t know. I was just afraid. I was acting like a child, so-”

“So was I,” said Magnus and groaned, because this time, he was at fault and he knew that. He knew better than to push Alec’s buttons, but he still did it, so it wasn’t really that strange that Alec snapped back at work. “I shouldn’t have done that… with computer. All of your hard work went down the drain. I wasn’t fair either.”

“Yeah,” said Alec and chuckled, shrugging. “I think we’re both pretty stubborn people and don’t want to admit it to ourselves that we’ve done something wrong,” said Alec and Magnus only nodded and leaned closer to Alec.

“Plus what pushed me over the edge was seeing you siding with Goldilocks,” stated Magnus and Alec’s smirk grew.

“What is that I hear?” asked the detective. “Are you admitting that you were jealous?”

“Jealous? Of course not, don’t be silly. I’m a ghost, I don’t get ‘jealous’,” stated Magnus stubbornly.

“M-hmm, of course not,” said Alec and chuckled, his heart speeding up again when he saw Magnus grinning. “You were _so_ jealous.”

“Well, so what,” said Magnus and then both of them sat there in silence for a few moments, neither of them knowing what to say. They knew what they needed to discuss, but didn’t know how to start the conversation. “So,” started Magnus.

“So,” chimed in Alec and then both of them laughed nervously.

“So, about what happened between us… a few days ago,” stammered Magnus and looked over Alec, who looked just as nervous. “The kiss… did you hate it?” asked Magnus, sounding scared.

“No I didn’t hate it,” blurted out Alec and then pressed his lips together.

“Well… that’s good.”

“Is it?” whispered Alec and Magnus frowned.

“What do you mean?” whispered Magnus and frowned.

“It was a mistake, Magnus,” stammered Alec and bit into his lower lip when he saw the expression on Magnus’ face. When Alec called their kiss a mistake, Magnus felt his stomach dropping and it felt as if someone stabbed him right through the chest, anger kicking in again. It was a better self-defence than sadness in his opinion. “I just don’t want to…” started Alec, but his voice trailed off. _Get hurt, I don’t want to get hurt again._ “I just think we need to focus on what’s more important here… your case. I need to get the bottom of investigating things,” said Alec.

“Fine then!” snapped Magnus, lights in the room flickering again. “We don’t need to spend more time together. Go ahead and help me out. That way, you’ll be able to get rid of me and have your peace again,” said Magnus, speaking fast. He didn’t really mean those words, he was just so upset that Alec wasn’t on the same page as him that he couldn’t stop the words from spilling out. He was desperate for Alec to hold back his horses on his investigation and it hurt that the other didn’t feel the same. Especially now that Magnus finally admitted to himself that he already was stupidly and foolishly head over hills for Alec.

“Why are you acting like that? You know I love spending time with you, you’re the best thing that has happened to me in a while. But I’m just trying to be reasonable here,” said Alec, who was taken back with Magnus’ sudden outburst.

“Then don’t think rationally!”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“I know!” said Magnus and gritted his teeth, still angry. “You want to know another thing that’s not making sense?! I fell in love with you,” said Magnus suddenly, blurting those words out and as soon as they came out, he wanted to take them back, because the expression on Alec’s face said it all; he didn’t feel the same way.

Alec was taken back by Magnus’ words and he needed a few moments to get what the hell was going on. Magnus was now apparently in love with him? Like, in a romantic way? Alec felt his heart skipping a beat and he had to fight a smile spreading across his face. Alec knew it all along that he was attracted to the ghost, but tried to hold back from getting too close. And he was almost able to make himself believe that he had only friendly feelings for Magnus. However, now that he was confessed to, he couldn’t deny the happiness and for the time being, he forgot one big obstacle in between them.

“You’re in love with me?” asked Alec softly as if he was trying to make sure he heard Magnus right the first time around. He then looked down as his heart was beating with the speed of light. “How did this happen?” he then blurted out and Magnus frowned.

“What do you mean how did it happen?! I don't know. And is it really news to you? I mean I _kissed_ you,” said Magnus who was now confused. “It's kind of hard not to fall in love with you,” added the spirit. “But I know how crazy it is, okay? I'm dead and you're not, so before you dare to go on how stupid was I to fall for you, I have to tell you that I know all of the facts.”

Alec felt a stab at his heart when the meaning of Magnus’ words started sinking in and he cursed. Magnus was right, it was foolish that he was giddy like a school boy when Magnus confessed to him. That he realised and he quickly just puffed his cheeks and gave Magnus a sad smile. “I know what you mean,” said Alec and then leaned back against the couch. “For what's worth, you grew on me a lot. To the point which I'm not sure that is just friendship either.”

“Really?” asked Magnus.

“Yeah. I wouldn't exactly call it love, but it most definitely is attraction and a crush that could possibly lead to so much more,” said Alec, causing Magnus’ anger flee away. “If circumstances were different, I’d allow myself to fall in love completely. I would be honoured to have you as significant other. But I can't handle another heartbreak, I really can't,” he added and Magnus slowly nodded.

Alec was right, Magnus was beyond happy to see that the feeling was somewhat mutual, but he knew that he would end up breaking Alec’s heart if they acted upon their feelings. And he’d never hurt Alec. Never, ever.

“Then what are we supposed to do?” asked Magnus, his voice small and sad.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing. We continue being close friends, but beyond that, there's nothing to do,” said the detective.

“Yeah,” said Magnus, wishing for the complete opposite, but he said nothing.

Throughout the entire evening, both stayed quiet, battling with the desire of their hearts and harsh reality.


	11. Chapter 11

It was a quiet weekend, Alec in his living room, reading a book, but bored out of his mind. He looked around his apartment, which appeared to be empty, but he knew that Magnus was there. He could feel him and every now and then a shadow would pass by the detective and he shook his head. Was Magnus spying on him? Since Magnus confessed a few days ago, things had been strained between them and they didn’t really talk a lot. Magnus was still hanging around him, but other than that, they had no interaction, which kind of hurt Alec. It must’ve been on Magnus’ mind a lot, because he kept disappearing and re-appearing constantly, a tiny smile growing on Alec’s face. It was kind of adorable if you thought about it and when he noticed Magnus appearing again in the living room, he quickly bowed his head down, pretending to be reading.

Magnus looked at Alec, who appeared to be busy with reading and he awkwardly appeared behind Alec to see what book he was reading, quickly disappearing into the corner of the room when Alec lifted his gaze. Magnus though that Alec couldn’t see him, but the detective knew all about Magnus’ little spying. He wanted to drag out his little game on for a little while, eager to see how things would play out. So because of that, he went back to reading and Magnus just sighed sadly, clutching onto his shirt and he bit into his lower lip. He was tempted to go closer, but he didn’t know what to say. After blurting out his feelings like that, he didn’t know how to act around Alec, which was really weird of him. Usually he wasn’t so self-conscious, but around Alec he was a mess. Alec said that they should remain friends, but how? He couldn’t even muster up enough courage to go talk to Alec.

Alec was tempted to look back, because he knew where Magnus was, but then somehow restrained himself from doing so. He needed somehow to get Magnus to talk to him first. He also didn’t know how to start a conversation with Magnus. His heart warmed up when he remembered Magnus’ words from that day and he was smiling like an idiot again, until the sad reality started sinking in again and he just shook his head. Well, still, they couldn’t go on like this. Because of this, Alec placed the book down and moved his head forward, his hand going up to his neck and he moaned out in discomfort, his neck hurting from the awkward position he chose for reading the book.

“Ouch,” said Alec and then bit into his lower lip, his fingers massaging his aching neck. That still didn’t get Magnus’ attention. However, Magnus straightened himself up when he saw Alec in pain and he almost went to him right away, but then stayed away. “A massage would really feel good now,” said the detective, talking to himself. “Maybe I should call Izzy so that we’d go to a spa and-”

“Now that would be just a waste of money. I’m pretty talented with my fingers, I can give you one,” said Magnus, interrupting Alec. The ghost bit his tongue for not thinking before opening his big mouth. Alec turned around and gave Magnus a little smile when he saw him re-appearing further away from him, sighing sadly.

“Hey,” said Alec and rubbed his palms together, puffing his cheeks and then looked back up at Magnus. “You can come closer. You don’t have to hold such a distance between us. We’re still supposed to be friends, so, you know.”

“Right,” said Magnus and it took him a few moments, before he finally decided that Alec had a point, appearing on the couch next to the detective, but he still kept his distance. It was like he was protecting himself from physically getting hurt and Alec understood that all too well. It must’ve been killing Magnus, because it was hurting him as well. And to think that Magnus’ feelings ran even deeper than his. Alec’s breath shook and he forced himself to look up at Magnus, who was now having difficulties of not running away.

“Magnus,” started Alec, but then stopped, because he didn’t know what to say.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” stammered Magnus and looked up at Alec, who was now nervously chewing on his bottom lip. “Us staying just friends, I don’t know if it was a good idea. I hate how things are between us now,” stated the spirit and Alec could feel his emotions of sadness running through him. “This _awkwardness_ between us, I can’t stand it. I shouldn’t have confessed to you. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I should-” started speaking Magnus again, but then his voice trailed off. “I just want things to be between us like they used to. But we can’t go back to that, can we?” asked Magnus, his voice small, almost breaking and Alec felt his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach when he saw how broken Magnus looked.

“It’s not your fault,” said Alec and made a short pause before he continued. “I told you that I didn’t hate the kiss and that I feel the same. It’s good that we came clean about that, we need to be honest with each other,” he said painfully slowly and Magnus just looked down when Alec mentioned the kiss. “It’s just been a few days, if we give it more time, we can go back to just being friends, right?” asked Alec softly, sounding scared and Magnus shrugged.

“I don’t know Alexander, I don’t want to be just your friend,” said Magnus, but then bit his tongue, because he knew he was being unfair. There was nothing that he could do about the current situation. If he wasn’t so stupid that night, if he didn’t drink and drive, he wouldn’t be… He wouldn’t be dead now and he’d get a chance with Alec. If they would get the chance to meet if things were different. Maybe they wouldn’t, who knew? Magnus cursed and let out a sad laughter; the Universe was cruel. “Maybe I should go ask Simon for help from now on. Because if this is too painful for you, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“No, no, no,” said Alec quickly and panicked. “Don’t go to someone else,” he said and pressed his lips together. “I can handle it. Besides, being without you and knowing you’re getting help from someone else would hurt me more,” said Alec and Magnus cursed when he saw sadness creeping into the detective’s eyes.

“Damn it, Alec,” said Magnus. “If you continue saying things like these, you’ll get my hopes up. I can’t-”

“I’m sorry,” whispered Alec.

“No, don’t apologise,” said Magnus and then a sad smile spread across his face. “You dummy,” he then added and Alec sent him a confused look. “You’re just so, ugh,” said Magnus and a smile spread across his face when he saw Alec’s big, curious eyes looking at him with wonder. “You make it impossible for me to stay away. You’re not playing fair,” teased Magnus and Alec gave Magnus a shy smile.

“Well, that’s good news,” said Alec and came a bit closer to Magnus. “Look, what if we just start over? As friends?” tried the detective and Magnus frowned when Alec suddenly extended out his hand. Start over how? Pretend that the past few weeks never happened? “What do you say? To endless friendship?” asked Alec softly and waited Magnus to take his hand.

Magnus stared at Alec’s hand for quite a while, until he finally extended his own and reached for Alec’s. However, as he did that, his fingers went through Alec’s palm, making the detective chuckle and Magnus smiled weakly. “Fine. To friendship,” said Magnus, removing his hand and then looked back down again.

“I’m glad,” said Alec and then noticed that Magnus was feeling down again. Instead of moving away, he moved closer and gently touched Magnus’ shoulder, holding his hand up in air again. “Hey,” said Alec and his heart started speeding up as Magnus looked up into his eyes. “It’s gonna be fine, we’re gonna be okay,” he then whispered, not really believing his own words, but he needed to make himself believe that everything was going to be okay.

“I sure hope so,” stammered Magnus and then his eyes widened when Alec gave him an awkward hug. This time, Magnus didn’t return the hug. Instead, he just sat there completely frozen, unable to move. Didn’t Alec just say that they were going to remain friends? “What are you doing?” whispered Magnus.

“Hugging you,” said Alec, feeling a lump forming in his throat. “Friends hug too, right?”

A smile cracked Magnus’ serious expression and he slowly nodded. “I suppose they do, yes,” said Magnus and finally returned the much needed hug. He felt himself relaxing in Alec’s arms, his body heated up and Alec was surprised that he could feel it this time. It was like Magnus’ body was on fire when he closed his eyes.

The hug lasted much, much longer than a normal, friendly hug. They were both aware of that, but didn’t do much to break it, Alec gasping when he felt Magnus’ lips at his cheek again. He wanted to tell him to stop, but again, a kiss on a cheek meant friendship. Nothing more. Now, of course Alec was lying to himself, but he didn’t care. Magnus couldn’t really hold back either. With Alec shuddering lightly in his arms like that, he pressed a quick kiss against Alec’s cheek and then quickly broke their hug, Alec’ heart ready to jump out of his chest and he awkwardly looked at Magnus, who was just as flustered as him.

“So, um, that was okay right?” stammered Alec. “I, uh, I mean… we didn’t cross any lines of friendship, right? Friends hug and-and a kiss on a cheek is also a friendly gesture,” started babbling Alec, Magnus’ smirk growing, who just nodded.

“No,” said Magnus and gave Alec an unsure look. “We didn’t cross anything.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” said Alec, smiling and nodding. It made sense, they were just friends anyway. Now.

Alec felt his throat going dry when Magnus moved closer to him, quickly looking down, his heart hammering against his ribcage. They were just friends, nothing was out of the ordinary, tried to tell himself Alec, but a strong desire to kiss Magnus kicked in again when he looked up at Magnus’ face, his eyes stopping on the other’s lips, biting down onto his own, dragging teeth over it and Magnus gasped when he saw Alec doing that. Alec biting down onto his lip like that was such a turn on and he tried to calm himself somehow. However, Alec wasn’t really doing it easy on him as he suddenly moved really close to him, their lips only inches apart and Magnus looked into Alec’s eyes, who were full of curiosity, hunger and fear.

“Alexander,” whispered Magnus and without thinking, Alec placed his hand against Magnus’ cheek, smiling when he felt his energy against his fingers. Something was different that time. Usually, it was a cold feeling, but not that time. Magnus felt warm, almost alive and he looked up when Magnus called out his name again. A voice was screaming at Alec to make him stop, but he couldn’t and he leaned closer. “Friends don’t-”

“I don’t care,” whispered Alec, too far gone and Magnus felt shivers going up his spine. Alec wasn’t playing fair, but he couldn’t push him away. A tiny smile spread across Alec’s face when he saw Magnus closing his eyes. He looked beautiful like that. He was beautiful, everything about him was perfect. And to think that he was in love with him. Just as Alec was about to kiss Magnus, there was a knock at the door, following by the sound of the doorbell and Alec was literally catapulted onto his legs, snapped back into reality. His eyes widened when he saw what he was about to do and he cursed at himself, quickly getting onto his legs, placing a hand over his lips.

Magnus felt his stomach dropping when Alec quickly left him all alone on the couch like that and he let out a shaky breath. Like he thought, it wasn’t a good idea for them to be spending time all alone. They had agreed to stay just friends, but when Alec was about to kiss him, Magnus wanted for the kiss to happen more than anything. He knew he should be angry at Alec, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t. He looked over at Alec, who was going to the door and then disappeared into the other room, needing time for himself.

Alec’s head was spinning as he walked over to the door. He knew that he messed up their good start at friendship and he hated himself for that. What was even worse was that Magnus disappeared on him again and then he just shook his head, slapping himself back to reality, a sigh of relief when he saw his sister standing in front of the door. He quickly unlocked the door and opened it.

“Hey, Alec,” said Isabelle. “Can I come in?”

“Um, hey, yeah, of course,” said Alec, holding the door wider for Izzy to step inside, but he was still spacing out. He almost kissed Magnus again and all that he could think about was that. “So, um, what brings you here?” he then asked and Isabelle gave him an odd look.

“Do I need an excuse to visit my brother?” asked Izzy, offended, but then he grinned and shrugged. “It’s Saturday and I don’t know what to do with myself. Maia is overseas with her company, Simon and Raph are out on a date and being a third wheel with Jace and Clary doesn’t sound very tempting,” said Isabelle and sat onto the couch. “So, I came here, I need to do something if I don’t want to drive myself crazy by how much I’ll miss Maia for the next two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” asked Alec and went to sit beside his sister. “Where is she?”

“Japan. She has a very important photoshoot there,” said Izzy and leaned back against the couch. “Anyway, it’s not important. I need to stop talking about her, because the more I talk about her, the more I think about her. And the more I think about her, the more I miss her and more I know how much my life is going to suck-” started Isabelle rumbling, but then stopped when Alec placed a finger on top of her lips.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” said Alec. “We can hang out today.”

“Really? Oh, this is gonna be so much fun,” announced Isabelle and then looked around. “Magnus isn’t going to mind if I steal you for today, is he? I mean, he can tag along if he wants to. Oh, you know what should we do? Maybe we could go shopping, the three of us together!”

Alec flinched when Magnus was mentioned and then just like that, he appeared next to them, sitting onto the coffee table and his eyes lit up when the shopping was mentioned. “Darling, we should totally go,” said Magnus and Alec went red in the face. Also, he was confused. He was acting as if nothing happened.

“Who are you calling ‘darling’?” hissed Alec and Isabelle hummed in amusement. “What?” asked Alec unamused and Isabelle said nothing, but the sly smile on her face told him enough. He rolled his eyes and groaned when he saw Magnus leaned over to Izzy.

“So,” said Izzy and clapped. “What do you say? Should the three of us go to the mall together?”

“Izzy…”

“Come on, Alexander, let’s go,” said Magnus, because he wanted to get out of the house. All of that thinking about his and Alec’s relationship was giving him anxiety, especially now that they’ve almost kissed again. “It’ll do us both good.”

“Fine,” said Alec in the end, because he knew that Magnus had a point. He’d much rather be out than to be alone with his thoughts. As he went into the bedroom to change his clothes, Isabelle decided to wait for her brother, while Magnus went with Alec, the detective not protesting much.

As the girl was waiting, she saw a file laying under one of the cushions on the couch. She knew that she shouldn’t snoop around, but curiosity got the best of her when she saw the name on the file; Magnus. Wanting to know more about Alec’s ghost friend, Isabelle opened up the file and the first thing that she saw was the sketch of Magnus that Clary made weeks ago. Her jaw dropped, because she easily recognised the man on the sketch. It was Magnus Bane; one of her favourite fashion designers.

It took her a while to understand what was going on and her hands started trembling, her fingers gripping onto the paper and she closed her eyes, gulping. So, Alec’s Magnus was _Magnus Bane?!_ And he told her that he liked her designs! Izzy let out a high pitched scream, but then her smile dropped when something else started sinking in. Magnus Bane was dead?! Her eyes widened and shivers ran up her spine. Isabelle didn’t know a lot about him, for a fashion designer he was pretty private and rarely allowed people to take pictures of him. He wasn’t all that famous, but Izzy didn’t care. In her eyes, he was a genius and she had mad respect for him. But to think that he was dead…

Isabelle shuddered and her heart broke. What happened? She knew that he stopped working on his collection all of the sudden, but not much was released to the public. She knew there was an accident, from what the rumours said, but she thought it was something minor. However, his family and friends would surely tell the public that something happened, wouldn’t they? Nothing made sense anymore and she dropped the paper when Alec was back in the living room and he saw the expression on Izzy’s face, his eyes then on Magnus’ sketch, which was now laying on the floor.

“Izzy?” asked Alec and then sighed. “Ah, you went through Magnus’ file? You know that-”

“Why didn’t you tell me that the ghost of Magnus _Bane_ is living with you?” asked Isabelle, deadly silence falling between them.

“I didn’t… wait, what? You know his last name?” asked Alec, who was shocked.

“Yes!” said Isabelle. “How could I not? He’s my favourite fashion designer!” she then went on by saying and Magnus suddenly froze when he heard his full name.

Magnus Bane? That was the name he chose for himself? And he was a fashion designer? Well, that made sense. The ghost was as confused as Alec, if not even more, and the detective could sense the distress once again coming from the latter. “Magnus?” asked Alec softly. “Hey, come on, look at me. Everything will be okay,” he then whispered and gave Magnus a small smile. “Did you remember something?” asked Alec and Magnus shook his head.

“I’m not sure, but,” said Magnus, his eyes widening when he heard someone calling his name again. The voice belonged to a woman, who was desperately calling out to him, over and over again. He looked at Alec and then at Izzy, feeling a tight squeeze in his chest, letting out a small gasp. “I need to go,” he then added suddenly and Alec froze.

“No, no, no,” said Alec, panicked. “Go where?”

Before Alec could receive an answer, Magnus was gone and he cursed, kicking the couch hard and Isabelle flinched. “Alec, I’m sorry if I said too much, I just-”

“No, it’s okay,” said Alec, Izzy had nothing to do with it. “It was weird, he was in the middle of explaining something to me, but then… I don’t know. I suppose he remembered something. He said that he was needed somewhere,” said Alec. “I don’t know, this is just so fucking frustrating.”

“It’s gonna be okay,” said Izzy and Alec shrugged. “Hey, maybe you should ask Maia’s boss about what happened to Magnus,” said Isabelle, suddenly remembering something. She didn’t know if it was true, not a lot of personal things were out about Magnus, but there were rumours flying around that Magnus was dating the woman who was in charge of Maia’s company; a very unpleasant woman from what she heard so far.

“Maia’s boss? Why?” asked Alec.

“Well they say that Magnus and Camille were dating, so-”

“Camille?!” snapped Alec. “Camille Belcourt?”

“Yeah, do you know her?”

“I did a bit of digging out and the car that Magnus was driving when he passed away was registered as hers,” started explaining Alec, when the second part of Isabelle’s sentence started sinking in and he was literally catapulted on his legs. “They were _dating_?” asked Alec, all of the colour draining from his face and Izzy nodded.

“I’m not sure, that’s just what the rumours say. Not a lot of Magnus’ personal life is out for the public to know, you know? He was a pretty closed off kind of guy,” explained Isabelle and Alec snorted.

“That I find hard to believe,” he said and then sat back down, but then he understood why Magnus was supposed to be a closed off kind of guy. He was probably still hiding from his step-father, all of those years after running away.

“So, I take it that we aren’t going shopping?” asked Izzy and Alec shook his head.

“No, Iz, sorry. I need time to process everything,” said Alec and Isabelle nodded, allowing her brother to take all the time in the world. While Isabelle sat there next to Alec in silence, the older one started coming up with a plan to come to the bottom of Magnus’ case. He went behind Magnus’ back and found out whose car he was driving that night, but right now, he was happy that he figured that part out. No matter how much he hated the fact, he’d have to talk to this Camille Belcourt.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Camille finally makes an appearance. I know that many of you don't like her, but she's important to the story, so... sorry? xD I mean so far, she isn't going to be a problem... yet. Maybe. I don't know. You be the judge haha.

''Magnus,'' said Alec and sighed. It was Monday morning and throughout the entire weekend, Alec had a lot of free time on his hands. Again, Magnus disappeared, but for a chance, the detective appreciated the silence, because he really needed time for himself to think things through. He came to the conclusion that the best thing would be to call Camille down to the station the first thing that he did after going to work. However, he needed Magnus' permission for that, since the two of them were supposed to be engaged and Alec felt his stomach twisting in a knot. Magnus never really told him that he used to be engaged, but then again, he maybe didn’t remember. Luckily, Magnus was there when he woke up, which gave the detective a perfect opportunity to ask him. “We need to talk,” announced Alec, Magnus completely lost.

Something was off again; it was just like the time when Alec told him he went missing for two weeks. Again, he felt trapped, but the feeling didn’t last as long this time and again, there was this beeping sound that was driving him mad. But, he felt no more pain this time, though he still couldn’t breathe properly and the feeling of not being able to move terrified him. He never wanted to experience it again and he did everything that was in his power to return back to Alexander. And then there was a voice that was calling out to him, Magnus narrowing his eyes. Camille, he knew that it was her. Even in his afterlife, he wouldn’t leave him at peace. He didn’t know all the details, but he knew that he didn’t like the woman. She caused him heart-break in the past and despite not knowing how she looked, knowing her name and the sound of her voice was already enough for Magnus.

“Yeah,” said Magnus, awfully distracted by his own thoughts and he shuddered when he remembered the feeling of being trapped. This time, he remembered something else as well; a smell. A distinct smell that could only belong to-

“Magnus,” tried Alec again. “Come on, focus,” he then added and Magnus quickly looked at him.

“Excuse me, dear. What did you say?”

“Look, I’ve got something kind of serious to tell you and also ask you a few things,” started Alec slowly and Magnus just nodded and tried his best to focus on whatever Alec was going to tell him.

“Okay.”

“Alright,” said Alec and rubbed his palms together, somewhat nervous and he took in a deep breath. Well, he was nervous. He was going to tell Magnus about Camille and since Izzy said that the two of them were supposed to be in relationship, he was very uneasy. He didn’t like the thought of Magnus caring for someone else. It was true that he might not remember them, but Alec was terrified that once he would fully remember everything, he’d lost all of the love he had for him. Their relationship already wasn’t even real to begin with. What relationship? They were just friends, right? “So remember how I wrote down the licence plate of the car you were driving on the night you… well, you know.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I finally went ahead and did a search for it,” said Alec and Magnus felt his chest shrinking, feeling betrayed that Alec would do such a thing behind his back. However, he said nothing and just listened to Alec further, thought he felt annoyance kicking in. “You weren’t listed as owner of the car, but Camille Belcourt was,” said Alec painfully slowly and secretly hoped that Magnus didn’t remember her yet. He then stopped talking and just looked over at Magnus, observing his reactions and the shock on his face told him that he knew who Camille was, bowing his head down.

“Camille,” whispered Magnus. “Of course she was the owner of the car, how could I ever forget?” he then asked and then pressed his lips together and Alec felt his heart sinking to the pit of his stomach. “My girlfriend at the time,” blurted out Magnus and Alec cursed.

“So it’s true,” said Alec under his breath and firmed loose fists with his hands.

“Yeah, but,” said Magnus and narrowed his eyes, some of the memories coming back from him and he couldn’t say that they were exactly happy ones. “I need you to understand something. Although I can’t remember much about her, I can tell you that I wasn’t happy with her,” said Magnus and sighed. “I think that what happened to me on that day when I passed away, has something to do about her. She broke my heart and I was so upset that I got so drunk that I-”

“So you loved her,” stated Alec, looking down and he forced out a sad laughter. “I mean of course you loved her, if you wouldn’t, it wouldn’t hurt you so much,” went on by blabbering Alec and he pressed his lips into a thin line. He felt his heart breaking; it happened again. Even as a ghost, Magnus wasn’t completely his. His heart in reality belonged to someone else already and it was only the matter of time when he’d remember all of it. The things Alec was thinking were just petty things; he needed to focus on Camille and how she felt; she lost her lover, someone that she was actually in a relationship in real life. Alec was happy with Magnus for the few days that the happiness lasted, but now their perfect bubble was starting to crack. “And when you remember the good times you two shared, I’ll-”

Magnus knew very well what Alec meant and he quickly shook his head. “Even if I did love her, that doesn’t matter anymore. I mean she hurt me,” said Magnus and bowed his head down. “My feelings for you aren’t a pretend, you know? I honestly fell in love with you and even after I get the rest of my memories back, this isn’t going to change anything,” stated Magnus, meaning his words and Alec almost scoffed, but he didn’t, because as he looked into Magnus’ eyes, he believed him. There were a lot of things he questioned about Magnus, but his honesty was never on the table. He knew that Magnus would never lie to him.

“Yeah,” said Alec with a sad tone in his voice and he shrugged. It’s not like that changed anything, but he didn’t let his sadness show on his face. Rather, he decided to stay focused onto the task of letting Magnus know that he would like to invite Camille down to the station. That was going to suck. “Anyway, the thing I wanted to ask you is,” stammered Alec. “I would like to invite Camille down to the station to ask her a few things. I didn’t want to go behind your back, so I’d just like to ask you if it would be okay if I talk to her.”

Magnus gave Alec an offended look, but he let his annoyance pass by. Talk to Camille? Magnus narrowed his eyes as he was tempted to politely decline that offer, however, he knew that it was sadly a crucial part in figuring out the rest of things that Magnus still wanted to know. “Okay, you may call her,” said Magnus. “However, I want to be present there when question her,” said Magnus then and Alec slowly nodded.

“Sure, we’ve got a deal,” said Alec and Magnus just nervously smiled.

* * *

Alec made a call to Camille Belcourt’s office as soon as he arrived at work and her assistant was the one who picked up, Alec letting her know why he needed to meet with her. So, he was quite surprised when about a half hour later, he received a phone call from Camille Belcourt herself, telling him that she was coming down to the station in a few hours. Since she was running one of New York’s biggest fashion agencies, Alec had prepared himself that he’d have to wait a few days before he’d be able to get a meeting with her, so he was very surprised. Then again, he did mention Magnus, so that was probably why she needed to see him so urgently. In his opinion, this showed how much she cared about Magnus.

Magnus was just silent as they waited for her to come, nervous what seeing her was probably going to make him remember. It was sometime after lunch that Jace came to tell him that a very beautiful woman was waiting for him out in the waiting room and he knew that that had to be Camille. He grabbed Magnus’ file and looked over at the other, who was still quiet, Alec walking past him into the waiting area, his eyes widening when he saw Camille. Just like Magnus said, she was beautiful, even Alec could see her beauty; she had long dark brown hair, wearing dark red lipstick, sunglasses and a red dress. Alec felt even more nervous when she took her glasses off and her dark brown eyes found Alec’s and she wasted no time, getting onto her legs and she walked to Alec.

“Detective Lightwood?” asked Camille and Alec nodded, straightening himself up and he could swear that he could sense a hint of an accent as she spoke, but he didn’t know where to place it. It was pretty obvious that she was coming from a higher social class of people and that made Alec feel awkward and uncomfortable.

“Yeah, that would be me,” said Alec and gave the woman a little smile. “Camille Belcourt, right?”

“It’s me, in flesh,” said Camille and smiled, her smile sending shivers down Alec’s spine and he nodded, looking around to see if Magnus was anywhere, but he was nowhere to be seen and Alec cursed mentally. “You needed to see me, detective?”

“Yes, I have a few question about Magnus Bane,” said Alec and Camille just nodded, but even though she appeared to be calm, she wasn’t. The little twitch of the corners of her lips and a quick frown that disappeared right in the next moment gave her away. “It’ll be just a few… pretty general questions, not many details. I was just investigating the car crash that occurred on the Brooklyn Bridge a few months ago and since the car that caused it was registered as yours, I need to ask you a few questions, just for formalities,” said Alec and Camille pressed her lips into a thin line.

“I see,” said Camille and rubbed her palms together. “Well, let’s get to it. I’m a busy woman, I have a company to run,” she then added, her voice sounding a lot colder and Alec only nodded, inviting Camille to go after him, taking her to an interrogation room so that they could have some privacy. Luckily, Magnus was going to join them in there too. That was kind of the point of inviting Camille down to the station, to have Magnus remember something and Alec would feel like a complete imbecile if he wouldn’t have Magnus there next to him. As they made their way to the room, Alec closed the door as he let Camille in and then sat down on the opposite side of the table.

“So, what would you like to know, detective?” asked Camille and crossed her legs in something that looked like a seductive way and Alec only wrinkled his nose and frowned, but then shook his head. Surely he was just imagining things. “You surely don’t think I have something to do with the accident, do you?” she then asked and leaned closer to Alec.

“No, no one is assuming that, Miss Belcourt. It was an accident, wasn’t it?” asked Alec and then pulled out details of the accident of which he went through multiple number of times, still not getting it why it was listed that there were no fatal injuries caused in that accident. According to the police report, there were at least 40 people seriously injured, but no one had passed away. Then where was Magnus? There was a description of a male in his mid twenties that matched Magnus’ description, but all that the report said was that the victim was rushed to the hospital, suffering severe damage to the head.

Maybe that was Magnus and had passed away later on in the hospital? He called to the hospital where the man was rushed off to, but when he said that he wanted to have more information about him, the officials of the hospital told him that it was private information. The only thing that Alec was able to learn was that the young man wasn’t dead, just in a coma and that he was transferred to one of private hospitals in the town. The officials of the hospital couldn’t tell him which hospital it was, so Alec decided that it was a dead end. Anyway, that couldn’t be Magnus. Alec checked the name, it didn’t match, so he was stuck in dead end. That was why he also needed to talk to Camille, he needed to come to the bottom of the mystery, because currently not a lot of things were making sense.

“That’s correct, it was just an accident,” said Camille and placed a hand on top of her lips and Alec decided to stay quiet for a little while, because the woman was having difficulties with staying focused and not giving into her emotions. “A horrible, terrible accident,” she then added and Alec felt his heart growing heavy, because there were tears present in Camille’s eyes. “My fiancé, he-”

“Fiancé?” blurted out Alec, thus interrupting Camille and that was when Magnus finally showed up, visibly upset, annoyed and angry.

While Alec was interrogating Camille, Magnus was listening to the conversation, but kept himself hidden from Alec’s eyes. However, the more he continued to watch and listen, the more he started to remember about his past with Camille and when the woman started crying, he couldn’t hold back anymore. Magnus narrowed his eyes, not believing those tears; he had seen them far too many times and knew Camille enough to know when she was faking it to gain some sympathy from other people. She was one of the most manipulative people he knew and he couldn’t just stand back and have her lie to Alec like that.  

Magnus couldn’t believe that she actually had the decency to pretend she actually cared about him. Magnus did love her, he loved her a lot. She was one of the first people he opened up to about his past, but he ended up getting burnt. Badly. What she said about them being engaged was true; it was Magnus who asked, but also who called off the wedding after he figured out all of the lies she had been telling him. One of the biggest ones being that she loved him. She didn’t; her heart belonged to another, leaving Magnus heart broken when he figured out that she had been having an affair.

That night, he followed her; he was still half-lying to himself that Camille would never lie to him like that. However, when he found her in arms of another man that was all the proof he needed. He was there just to fill in the time when she needed to play around with. But why the scheme about the wedding? Well, Magnus heard an explanation for that coming out of Camille’s mouth as well. She explained in to the other man that Magnus was pretty loaded, which was true, and that after the marriage, she would quite soon fill in for divorce and robbed Magnus off everything he had. That was more than a good excuse for Magnus to go drinking that night and he was angry with himself that he allowed Camille to have such power over him.

Alec let out a hitched breath when he felt Magnus’ emotions and they were so strong that he himself felt strong hatred for Camille. Then maybe it was just jealousy, he didn’t know. Alec kept looking at Magnus for a little while and then he went back to Camille, who was now wiping away the tears and Magnus just rolled her eyes when she hiccupped her again.

“Don’t let those tears fool you, Alexander. She’s faking it, she doesn’t care about me. She never did,” said Magnus and scoffed, lights in the room flickering and Camille flinched and looked around, Alec just calmly sitting there, listening to Magnus. “I remember our time together, she’s nothing but a fraud.”

“I-”

“It’s very unfortunate what happened to Magnus,” stammered Camille and Alec narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out whether Magnus had a point or not about her. “I loved my fiancé and now he-”

“Liar!” yelled out Magnus, causing the papers in the file to scatter all over the room and Camille let out a high pitched scream and he quickly backed away, squeezing herself against the chair and her eyes were wide with shock and she started looking around. She had no idea what had just happened and the calmness of Alec’s face didn’t help either. “You did not love me!” screamed Magnus, lights flickering again.

“Stop this!” said Camille and looked at Alec. “How are you doing this?”

“Look, I need to let you know something. The true reason I called you down here is-”

“Stay out of this, Alexander!” warned him Magnus and as Alec wanted to get onto his legs, he was pushed back against the chair and the detective cursed. He wasn’t afraid of Magnus usually, but for the first time, he actually frightened him. “Why don’t you rather ask her about Chris? And how the two of them were going to scam me for money after our marriage.”

“Chris?” asked Alec and froze when he heard that name. He felt a lump in his throat and he let out a hitched breath. Chris. His ex? He then shook his head, no it had to be someone else. Chris was a pretty common name and-

“How do you know that name?” asked Camille, her voice low and then she quickly scoffed, shaking her head. “Now I know what’s going on. You’re that private detective he hired to follow me all over the town?” asked Camille and then shook her head. “Well, forget it. Without my lawyer present, this conversation is over.”

“You owe Magnus the truth,” said Alec, not really knowing where he was going with that, but he knew that he was way out of line. He was getting too personal, not professional at all. “He passed away and at least you could do-”

“Excuse me?” asked Camille, interrupting Alec and let out a hitched breath, covering her mouth. Alec raised an eyebrow and looked over at Magnus, who was just as confused, looking back at Camille, who now had genuine tears in her eyes. “M-Magnus’ dead? I-is that why you called me down here? To tell me he died?” stammered the distressed woman and just sat there.

“Yes, I’m afraid he passed away?” said Alec, his sentence sounding like a question, completely confused. How could she not know that he passed away? Did she just earlier say that-

“Oh my God,” said Camille and finally broke down, hiding her face into her palms and let out a loud sob. “B-but they told me his condition was stable, I was there yesterday,” said Camille, who was now talking to herself and another sob left her mouth.

Alec furrowed his eyebrows, still not getting it. Magnus’ condition was stable, she was with him yesterday?! Alec looked up at Magnus, who was now staring blankly in front of him, that sending shivers up Alec’s spine and his eyes then widened, finally all the pieces of the puzzle coming into a place. He wasn’t able to locate any victims in that car accident, because there were none, were they? Magnus once disappeared, telling him that he heard a beeping sound and he felt trapped. Everything hurt him and he couldn’t breathe? That man that he was asking about, the one who matched Magnus’ description… the one who was in a coma, but not dead. That really was Magnus. Alec’s heart started speeding up and he looked up at Camille, who was still crying.

“M-Miss Belcourt,” stammered Alec. “Magnus… he didn’t die in the car accident?”

“No!” said Camille and shook her head. “He suffered a lot of trauma to his head and-and for the past few months, he was in a coma,” she added, Alec’s hands trembling. “In the hospital, he was registered under fake alias, like he always was when he went to a public hospital. I don’t know the reason, but he liked being private about such things. However, after not waking up for a week, I checked him out and sent him to a private hospital,” she said and then looked at Alec, confused. “Wait a minute, how did you even get this information? Everything was done in private and… what do you mean if he died in the car accident?”

Alec’ head was spinning and his breathing was awfully uneven when the realisation of Magnus still being alive finally hit in. Coma or not, he didn’t care. All that he cared was that Magnus was still there and he almost lost his cool in front of Camille. However, he just cleared his throat and gave Camille and apologetic look. “T-there was a mix-up,” suddenly said Alec and Camille gave him a dirty look. “I am so, so sorry… I thought that it was Mr. Bane who passed away, but I-”

“So he’s not dead?”

“No, it was my mistake. I just assumed-”

“You son of a bitch,” said Camille suddenly, got onto her legs and slapped Alec. Hard. Then, tears started streaming down her face again and she angrily wiped them away. “You’re gonna be hearing from my lawyer,” said Camille and stomped to the door, Alec quickly unlocking it. “I mean… how dare you… without having any evidence declare my fiancé as dead?!”

“I’m sorry, I-”

“I don’t care,” said Camille and stormed off, Alec left alone and he looked over at Magnus, who was now back from wherever his trip took him before.

As Alec was finally alone, he locked the door again, put the folds down and sat back down, because he needed to do that, tears finally breaking free and he sobbed, hiding his face into his palms. They were tears of relief, happiness… Magnus was alive! He was still there, somehow.

“Where is she now? She was just here and-” started Magnus, realising that he probably blacked out. His bad mood only worsened when he saw tears present on Alec’s face and he swore that she would hurt Camille if she did something to the detective. “Alexander, what did she do to you?” asked Magnus, concerned. “Whatever she said, it’s not-”

“You aren’t dead,” whispered Alec and bit into his lower lip.

“W-what do you mean?”

“You didn’t die in that accident, no one did,” whispered Alec and new tears started rolling down his cheeks. “You were badly injured and you are currently in a coma, but you’re still alive,” said Alec and that was all that he could think of. “You’re alive.”

Magnus needed a few moments, but then it finally made sense. The things he saw, the voices he heard, Camille calling for him. It was all true and yet, somehow his spirit was able to get out of his body and get in touch with Alec. That had to mean something, it wasn’t just a coincidence. Magnus was about to say something else, but as Alec broke down in tears again, the spirit finally understanding that they were tears of relief, he came closer to him and wrapped his arms around him, holding him close, Alec smiling as he closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if there were any mistakes in this chapter, I was kind of in a hurry to publish it, so the proof-reading was really fast. If there are any mistakes, do tell me ^^;  
> I would like to thank all of you for support, it means a lot ;)  
> Also, today is my birthday... so yaay xD. We shall party hard, woo~ xD


	13. Chapter 13

''What are we going to do now?'' asked Magnus with a small voice. It's been the next day since Alec learned that Magnus was actually still alive, lying somewhere in a private hospital in coma. Magnus himself couldn't remember where on Earth could that hospital be located and even though he tried concentrating on the voice calling out for him, Camille, he couldn't go to the source of it. It was like something was holding him back that time and if he thought about it a few times, something was holding him back from disappearing; Alexander. He couldn't leave now.

Alec, who was laying on his bed, just shrugged and let out a small sigh. Magnus was watching him with curiosity and hope in his eyes, yet the detective didn't know what kind of an answer to provide him with. Everything about their situation was a mess. Sure, Magnus was still alive, but things had gotten even more complicated. Magnus was currently in a coma, who even knew if there were any possibilities of him waking up. Second, he didn't even know where Magnus' hospital was located since all of it was done in such secrecy. He knew that talking to Camille would be the easiest way to find out, but there was no way she was going to tell him after what happened the previous day. And without a legal warrant – which he wasn't going to get, since he wanted to find Magnus purely for private reasons – he wasn't going to go anywhere.

But even if he would find Magnus by some kind of miracle and if he would wake up; then what? Technically, he was still with Camille. Well, he said that she broke his heart, so maybe there was still hope. Alec sighed and then looked down, chewing on his lower lip and he closed his eyes. What if in a process of waking up Magnus would forget him? Alec knew from experiences that ghosts returning in their own bodies resulted in a memory loss – them forgetting everything that happened to them while their spirit was outside their bodies – and that wasn’t a positive thing at all. The more he was thinking about it, the more his head started to hurt.

“I don’t know,” said Alec after a little while and Magnus frowned, but said nothing for a few moments, because he knew that he needed to think about what he was going to say. From his point of view things were pretty simple; he would go back into his body, wake up and spend his happily ever after with Alec. “Everything’s just getting more and more complicated.”

“Not from my point of view,” stated Magnus simply and Alec almost laughed at Magnus.

“Well, you tend to oversimplify things, Magnus,” said Alec with a chuckle and slowly rolled onto his side, so that he was now facing Magnus, who was laying next to him, his smile slowly disappearing, and heaviness in his heart setting in again. “First, I must find out in which hospital Camille’s keeping you,” said Alec and slowly lifted his gaze, Magnus’ eyes carefully watching him. “Then we must see how bad your condition is. I mean you’ve been in a coma for months now,” said the detective and Magnus slowly nodded. “The more time you’re in a coma, the harder it’ll be for you to ever wake up from it.”

“Now that you put it that way… it’s not that simple anymore, yeah,” said Magnus with a hum. He had to agree with Alec on that one, there was a lot on stake there. “Well, I’m confident that you’ll find where I am. You’re the best detective that this town has,” said Magnus playfully and then grinned. “I’m sure I’ll wake up. All I need is a true love’s kiss. I don’t think there will be a problem with that,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows, Alec’s face heating up and he then just rolled his eyes.

“Magnus, you’re in a _coma_ , try to be a bit more serious about this,” said Alec, but didn’t sound annoyed or angry. “Let’s say there’s a possibility for you to wake up. There’s something else you need to know,” said Alec and Magnus arched an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. “I’ve heard about some cases about spirits returning back to their bodies,” said Alec and made a short pause. “They were able to wake up, but they’ve forgotten everything that happened to them when they were spirits,” stated Alec, his heart speeding up and Magnus finally saw why Alec looked so devastated about that. “So if you wake up, you’ll forget me,” blurted out the detective, but didn’t correct himself, because it was true. He was afraid that Magnus would forget him and his feelings for him and honestly, he didn’t know what would hurt more… Magnus never waking up or forgetting him. “And I’m terrified of that,” he quickly added and Magnus was a bit taken back by Alec’s sudden honesty. Usually Alec wasn’t so upfront about his feelings.

That scared Magnus as well, but at the same time, he knew that he shouldn’t worry too much. There was no way he’d ever forget Alec. “Don’t be afraid, Alexander, I think it’s impossible for me to forget you,” said Magnus softly and Alec only scoffed. “But even if I end up forgetting you,” said Magnus with a small voice. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I’ll get to experience falling in love with you for the first time all over again. Now, that doesn’t sound that bad, does it?” said Magnus with a straight face, Alec flushing into deep shades of red and he wondered; how could Magnus say such things without breaking down into a stuttering mess?

“Magnus,” groaned Alec and rubbed his forehead, frustrated. “I am being serious here. I know that you like to joke around, but please, focus,” said Alec and then pulled the bedcovers up to his chin when he saw Magnus’ smirk growing. He didn’t like when Magnus got like that; it was impossible to have a decent and meaningful conversation with him. Or so Alec thought.

“So am I,” said Magnus softly, his smile slowly disappearing and he scooted closer to Alec, frown returning in between Alec’s eyebrows, but he said nothing for the time being and just silently observed Magnus, who was in the middle of thinking. “That and I’m trying to stay positive. I can’t always just focus on the bad sides of things, Alexander. That’s not really a way to go living your life. I think we’ve been over this a few times,” said Magnus and then a little smile came upon his face again when he heard Alec groaning.

“I know, I know. I just don’t wanna get hurt again. So being cautious and realistic is the best way to avoid that,” explained Alec and Magnus nodded and laid there next to Alec for a few moments, until he appeared on the other side of Alec, the other quickly turning around, his eyes wide and he gave Magnus an odd look when the other laid back down onto his back, looking up at the ceiling and chuckled.

“I understand that Alexander, more than you think,” said Magnus and took in a deep breath. “But let’s just say that everything goes the way is supposed to. I wake up and remember everything about you… us,” said Magnus and Alec felt his heart speeding up again, warmth spreading from his chest throughout his entire body. “Would you like to give us a try? Because you know that I’m already all in this,” said the spirit and looked over at Alec, who shrugged and pressed his lips together.

Alec tried thinking with his head straight, but as an image of him and Magnus curled up in a couch, watching TV somewhere in the future flashed in front of his eyes, he let out something that sounded like a giggle and he finally decided to stop being cautious for a change and took the leap of faith. He was done hiding and protecting his heart, it was time to fully accept someone inside of it. Not all people were out to get him and break his heart like his ex-boyfriend had.

“I mean I know you had a horrible breakup a while back, but, you know, I’d never break your heart like that,” said Magnus softly. “It’s completely understandable if you’d need some time to start a new relationship because of that. Because Camille did break my heart, but without even knowing it myself, you were able to heal that heartbreak,” said Magnus and Alec looked at him when he heard Camille being mentioned. Magnus wasn’t going to return back to her, was he? “And if it’s time that you need, I’m willing to wait for you as long as you need. I love you, Alexander.”

“Oh whoa,” blurted out Alec and then let out a nervous laughter. “And-and you’re sure that it’s completely over between the two of you? Camille said that you were her fiancé, so you know,” slowly asked Alec, because he needed to make sure.

“Oh, yeah,” said Magnus and wrinkled his nose when Camille was mentioned again. “It’s been over a long time ago, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself,” he then said slowly and looked over at Alec, who was still thinking, but in the end finally stopped and slowly nodded.

“Well,” slowly started Alec. “If-if everything turns out to go okay, with you waking up and all of that,” stammered the detective, Magnus lifting his head now, slowly listening to Alec’s decision. “I’d love to give us a try,” he then slowly said and heard the thumping sound of his heart, which was ready to jump out of his chest and then a happy smile spread across Alec’s face. “I’m done running away from… love,” said Alec and cringed at the way he was speaking. He wasn’t as good with words as Magnus and he hated that he couldn’t be so smooth. “I think I’m ready to open up my heart again. I-I mean you’re already pretty special to me, so… you know. Not a lot of opening up will have to be done,” said Alec awkwardly and Magnus laughed softly, feeling happy and there was nothing more that he wanted to do than to squeeze Alec tightly to himself.

“Yes,” said Magnus happily. “I think we should celebrate. I just got myself a hot boyfriend,” announced Magnus playfully, only joking around at that point and Alec rolled his eyes, but the smile didn’t disappear from his lips.

“You idiot,” whispered Alec with a smile and his smile grew wider when Magnus moved closer to him.

Magnus was beyond happy with Alec laying by his side. Especially knowing that Alec was prepared to give their relationship a try once he’d wake up from his coma. Feeling all giddy inside once again, he slowly reached out with his hand and gently placed it on top of Alec’s. Alec looked at him at the touch, leaving the hand that Magnus’ was resting on top, on his chest, while he brought his other hand closer to Magnus’ face and with the back of his palm placed it close to Magnus’ cheek. It killed him that he couldn’t touch Magnus properly, but just feeling his energy against his fingers would have to do for the time being and Magnus chuckled when he felt Alec’s fingers carefully caressing his cheek. Magnus closed his eyes at the touch and Alec grinned.

As Magnus laid there like that, Alec dragged his tongue over his lower lip and awkwardly lifted himself onto his elbow, bringing his face closer to Magnus’, his lips gently brushing against the other’s and before Magnus opened his eyes, he quickly pulled away and laid back down, Magnus staring at him wide-eyed, his chest bursting with warmth when he realised that he had just been kissed.

“Alexander, did you just-”

“Yes, it was kiss. You don’t have to make a big deal out of it,” said Alec, his face burning with embarrassment and he hid half of his face with his blanket, his eyes still looking over at Magnus, who was now grinning and touching his lips with his fingers. Alec was expecting a smug comment, but all that Magnus did was scoot closer to him and placed his head on top of Alec’s shoulder, the detective smiling widely above him.

* * *

“Hello, my name’s Alec, Izzy’s brother,” introduced himself Alec when his eyes located Maia stepping into the bar that they agreed to meet in. A bright smile lit up Maia’s face when she was spoken to and she reached out her hand when Alec did the same, taking his hand and shaking it, happy to meet Alec as well.

“Maia,” said the girl and sat down at the table that Alec picked out for them and the detective did the same, sitting down next to her. “So, we finally meet,” she then added and Alec only nodded. Finally, he was able to meet up with Izzy’s girlfriend in real life. Prior to that, she was too busy with bookings and photoshoots, so there wasn’t a lot of time for them to meet in person. Even now she was in a hurry to get somewhere, but decided to take off a few hours to spend them with Alec and Isabelle, who was going to join them later on.

“Yes, I’ve heard so much about you, so it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” said Alec, feeling kind of awkward because he wasn’t as good as Izzy when meeting new people. Bu then again, this was Maia. Isabelle had told him so much about her that he already practically knew her. Though, at the same time, it would be easier if Magnus joined him, but he didn’t want to tag along with him. Instead, he decided to go spy on Isabelle in her office, dying to see her designs. Because he didn’t want freak the poor girl out, he told Alec not to tell his sister that Magnus was coming along with her.

“Only good things, I hope,” joked Maia and Alec laughed and nodded.

“Of course. Izzy can’t stop talking about you, she’s literally talking about you all the time,” blurted out Alec and then cursed, reminding himself that he shouldn’t talk too much about Isabelle. Just like he wouldn’t want Isabelle to embarrass him in front of Magnus, he didn’t want to embarrass her in front of Isabelle. Speaking of Magnus, Alec told Isabelle that he was still alive and Izzy made Maia meet up with Alec for that reason as well. Maybe talking to Maia would help up with setting up a meeting with Camille again.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” said Maia and a shy smile spread across her face, but she didn’t try to stop it and Alec could only smile at that sight. From what he could see, the two of them were happily in love and deep inside he was kind of envious. Then he clicked with his tongue and pressed his lips together; he, too, will get a chance to be this happy. He just needed to wait for a little while. His patience was going to pay off in the end.

“So tell me,” started Alec. “How did the two of you meet?” asked the detective and Maia gave him a wide smile.

“Well, my boss booked Isabelle to design clothes for one of fashion shows,” started Maia and Alec’s smile widened as he listened to Maia’s side of the story. He had heard it from Izzy already, but it was just as equally sweet and interesting to hear the other side of it, his smile widening when he was listening how after one of the rehearsals Maia came to Isabelle and finally mustered up enough courage to strike up a conversation with her, one thing leading to another, resulting in them agreeing to meet up for a few drinks, which was their first date.

The two of them continued talking for about an hour and realised that they had quite a lot of things in common. For example, they both disliked annoying people, who were too full of themselves. Alec grinned, because he knew for a fact that Maia would probably dislike Jace. Now, Alec didn’t dislike his partner, in fact he was almost like a brother to him, but for the most parts, he was annoying the hell out of him. He and Maia also had the same taste in music and movies, both of them happily chatting until Alec remembered that he should be asking Maia a few of different kinds of questions. About Camille.

“So, you mentioned your boss earlier,” started Alec and Maia gave him a puzzled look.

“So?”

“Well, the thing is,” started Alec, trying to come up with a good way to tell Maia what was on his mind. He considered lying, but that wasn’t the right way to approach it as well, so in the end, he decided to go with the truth. “Look,” he said. “I’m currently in the middle of investigating the… disappearance of Magnus Bane,” said Alec and Maia frowned. Magnus disappeared? To where? “Well, the thing is… I need to talk to Camille. I kind of already did and blew my chances. Without a warrant and a lawyer, I can’t contact her anymore. I was just wondering if you could put in a good word for me with her and arrange a meeting, because I-”

“Oh,” said Maia, processing everything and she then shook her head. “Listen, Alec, I’d love to help you out, but I don’t think you know my boss. She’s not a very patient woman and if I were about to do that, I’d probably lose my job,” said the girl and Alec only nodded and sighed, but understood. It was worth a try.

“I understand,” said Alec and gave the other a weak smile. “I’ve met Camille, so yeah, I know what you mean.”

Maia let out a small laughter and then shook her head. “But what do you mean disappearance of Magnus Bane? He’s in a hospital, I don’t understand how could he run away,” said Maia and then chuckled.

“You know Magnus?” whispered Alec.

“Of course. Not really well, but he designed a few of my clothes, so I got the chance to meet him,” said Maia and then made a short pause. “It’s a shame what happened to him. That horrible accident. And not many people know about it, Camille didn’t want this secret getting out to the world, but you know… there are rumours. To keep it as a secret, she took him to a private hospital that is run by her family. And probably bribed the hospital that took him first to keep quiet about it. Though I don’t know why she wants to keep it as a secret,” said Maia and then stopped talking, realising that she probably said too much.

Alec felt his heart speeding up and he slowly nodded. Now it made sense, why it was so easy for Camille to keep a huge thing like that as a secret. When you had money and power that wasn’t as difficult. Besides, if Camille’s family owned a private hospital. Well, then good luck to him ever finding Magnus. He looked up and then took in a deep breath. Maia knew more than she was telling him and Alec straightened up.

“You said others don’t know about this. But you do?” asked Alec and Maia looked down.

“I shouldn’t be talking about this. I’ve already said too much,” stammered Maia and Alec cursed silently. “Camille would kill me if she ever finds out… thought what she’s doing isn’t fair as well.”

“You would be helping out our investigation. And Magnus at the same time as well,” tried Alec again and then made a short pause. “But if you don’t want to talk, then it’s okay. I won’t push you to say too much if you’re uncomfortable,” he then quickly added and Maia had a puzzled expression on her face.

Maia thought about it again and then looked down; she really didn’t like Camille and helping Magnus was what she cared about more, so she slowly nodded. “Just promise me you won’t tell who told you all of this,” said Maia and Alec quickly nodded.

“Yes, of course, you have my word.”

“Well, okay,” said Maia and then started explaining what she knew. “The reason why I know all of this is because I saw Magnus in the hospital,” said Maia. “Camille asked me to pick up something for her at the hospital and somehow I got lost among the hallways and ended up at one of the rooms in which Magnus was,” she said. “Before that I didn’t believe all of that rumours, but after seeing the poor guy laying in a coma there, I realised that everything was true. Well, probably.”

Alec felt his palms going sweating and he bit into his lower lip. Maia knew where Magnus was, she knew! “I-I see,” stammered Alec, trying to sound as calm as he possibly could and he then puffed his cheeks. “So you know where the hospital is located?” he asked and Maia nodded.

“Yeah,” said Maia. “But you won’t go looking for him there, will you? It’s kind of stupid to be playing with fire like that. Camille will never allow you to see him, beside the staff, not many people have access to him.”

Stupid or not, he needed to see Magnus. “Of course. I just need the address and then I’ll get all the needed papers to go and visit him,” said Alec and Maia felt weight lifting off of her shoulders, writing down the address of Magnus’ hospital, Alec thanking Maia a couple of times and then just like that, Isabelle joined them in, happily sitting next to Maia, kissing her and then she looked over to Alec.

“So, did you two have fun?” asked Izzy happily.

“Plenty,” said Alec and grinned.

“Yes, who knew we had so much in common,” said Maia and then winked at Isabelle.

 Alec looked around and quite soon saw Magnus there as well, his heart warming up and for the first time in months he felt something hopeful. He was in a good way of finding Magnus and possibly a future with him. Magnus appeared next to Alec, curious to see why Alec was in such a good mood.

“Had a good time, darling?” asked Magnus and Alec looked up at Maia, who didn’t know about his ability. Because he didn’t want to freak her out, Alec pulled out his phone, opened up his notes and typed Magnus his response.

_Very. I found out in which hospital you are._

“Oh that’s good news,” said Magnus happily when he read the response and sat over onto the remaining empty chair and grinned when he saw Alec’s smile widening. “See? I knew you would be able to find me.”

_You were right, hope and positive thoughts are the way to go._

“Of course I was right. Aren’t I usually right?” asked Magnus with a chuckle.

 _True. I can’t wait for a future with you,_ typed Alec and his fingers started shaking when he typed those words.

Magnus didn’t say anything. Instead, he placed his palm on top of Alec’s and the detective could feel Magnus’ emotions. He was happy and excited, just like him. And for the time being that was all that mattered. They had hope and it was all that they needed. With hope, good things happened!


	14. Chapter 14

Alec promised that he wouldn't do anything stupid. He said that he wouldn't go to that hospital without letting someone know or inviting Jace along, but there he was. Standing in front of the hospital, alone and he felt his heart speeding up. He didn’t dare to go inside of the building quite yet and he then rubbed his palms together. Maia practically begged him not to go there on his own, but he went right ahead and ignored that, going there on his own. It’s been a week since then and he finally plucked up enough courage to go and see Magnus.

Visiting a patient was nothing illegal, was what Alec knew. But those rules could bend when it came to private hospitals, especially the owned by Camille’s family. If she managed to hide Magnus in there for months without a word getting out, then he could only imagine how much of a power she was holding over other things as well, not only hospital. He also knew that there was a possibility that he wouldn’t be able to get to see Magnus just like that. Since Camille registered Magnus under fake alias in the public hospital and then quickly took him out, maybe he was kept here under an alias as well. Or maybe Camille bribed the staff to lie that someone of the name Magnus wasn’t there. Well, there was only one way to find out. To go inside and ask and if authorities would have to take him out for crossing a line, then so be it.

But there was another reason why he was hesitant of going inside; he didn’t tell Magnus he was going over to the hospital. Usually, nothing good came out of the spirits seeing their own bodies, being in coma or not. He didn’t want to traumatise Magnus with that. Plus, it would be too weird for Alec personally as well. Being in a room with Magnus’ body and then his spirit… yeah, it was too bizarre no matter how one looked at it. So, because of this, Alec was standing there completely alone and before he finally stepped inside, he asked God, Angels, or whatever might be listening to him for luck, because he was going to need it.

“There goes nothing,” said Alec and took in a deep breath, colour draining from his face as the door opened on their own and he quickly stepped inside, the familiar smell of hospitals filling his nose as soon as he stepped inside. Alec needed a few moments to look around and because he didn’t want to look too suspicious, he quickly walked to the front desk, deciding to just go for it. The young woman working there looked up and gave him a broad smile.

“Good afternoon, sir,” said the young nurse and then dropped what she was doing. “Is there anything I can help you with?” she then asked and Alec slowly nodded, took in a deep breath and hoped that he looked somehow professional.

“Hello there,” said the detective. “I was wondering where I could find the room of Magnus Bane?” asked Alec slowly and watched how a smile slowly disappeared from the woman’s face and he groaned. Great, of course it wouldn’t be so easy.

“May I ask who wants to see him?”

“My name’s Alec Lightwood,” said Alec and pulled out his badge, showing it to the nurse. He was about to say from which office he was, but then remembered that Camille mentioned something about Magnus hiring a private detective and an idea quickly popped into his mind. “I’m the private detective that he hired a while ago,” said Alec then and quickly put the badge away, taking in a deep breath, knowing that it wasn’t right of him to be lying like that. “I am aware of Mr. Bane’s condition, but I just wanted to check up on him. After all, he’s still my client.”

“Oh,” said the woman, unsure of what to do. She was told to tell anyone that would want to see Magnus Bane to tell them that they couldn’t go and see him. But, this man was a detective and since Bane was his client… She froze and didn’t know what to do. “Listen, sir, I would love for you to go in and check up on your client, but Mr. Bane isn’t seeing guests. A very close person to him told us that it wouldn’t be wise-”

“Oh you’re speaking about Miss Belcourt?” asked Alec, playing along with his little game and the woman slowly nodded, Alec putting on a fake smile. “Oh, don’t worry about her. I’ve talked to her this morning, we had a lovely little chat,” said Alec and the nurse frowned. Someone had a lovely chat with Camille? “She agreed to let me visit Mr. Bane. Though, I promised the visit must last under 15 minutes,” he then added.

“Camille Belcourt allowed you to go visit Mr. Bane?” slowly asked the nurse. “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” said Alec, pulling out his phone. “We can call her right now, if you’d like,” said Alec, bluffing and he prayed that the other would buy his empty words. “I think that she’s currently in the middle of an important meeting, but, well-”

“Oh, no, no, no, don’t call her!” said the woman and quickly shook her head. If there was one thing that she learned was to never, ever call Camille. Especially when she was in the middle of a meeting. “I believe you,” she then said and Alec felt weight lifting off of his chest. “Just promise me you’ll be very quick.”

“You have my word, miss,” said Alec and flashed one of his brightest smiles, trying to turn on his charms like Izzy tried to teach him many times up until then and it seemed to work, because the young nurse gave him a little giggle and Alec gave her a little wink, which reduced the woman into a stuttering mess.

“Well, um, then it’s settled,” said the nurse and checked the records to see where Magnus’ room was. “You’ll find Mr. Bane on the second floor, in the room 17. Before going there, I just need you to sign this,’’ she then said and placed a paper in front of Alec. “It’s just a formality, to keep track of our visitors,” she then said and Alec quickly filled all the needed information in, signing his name in the end and then thanked the woman. “Would you like me to show you where exactly the room is?” she then asked just when Alec turned around and he sighed. Of course she wanted to tag along. Because he knew that he needed to stay polite, he put on a smile as he turned around and just shook his head.

“That’s quite okay, I’ll be able to find the room on my own,” said Alec and saw how the other’s face dropped. “I wouldn’t want to disturb your work. You seemed very busy before and I really know how it gets when someone interrupts you,” he quickly added and the other’s smile returned shortly after that.

“Oh, yes, you’re quite correct,” she then said and wished Alec a good day, the latter quickly walking away.

Because Alec didn’t know how much time he had, since someone might had called Camille or someone else, Alec wasted no more time and followed the nurse’s directions. He took the stairs and went to the second floor, taking the hallway on his left and then started looking for the room 17, where Magnus was supposed to be. Even only when he was coming closer to the room, the realisation started sinking in of what was going to happen and he heard his palms started sweating, his chest tightening and he gasped. He was beyond nervous and scared; seeing Magnus hooked on all of the medical machines was going to give him a heart attack. Also now, he would be able to finally touch him properly. Overwhelmed, Alec felt tears going to his eyes and then just like that, he found himself standing in front of room 17.

“Oh, gosh, here we are,” said Alec to himself and even though he wasn’t really ready to step inside, he didn’t want to look too suspicious. He quickly opened the door, stepped inside and then locked the door of the room, just to be sure that he would have his privacy with seeing Magnus, basically for the first time. The detective knew that it was going to be an emotional moment, so he couldn’t have anyone disturbing that and ruining a moment like that.

As soon as he stepped inside, Alec heard a beeping sound of the machine that was tracking Magnus’ vital signs and he didn’t dare to turn around quite soon. That was the beeping sound that Magnus mentioned hearing a few times. Then finally, after a minute or so passed, Alec finally turned around, his knees buckling when he saw someone lying at the very end of the room. There was only one bed in the room, next to it a few chairs and a nightstand, filled with fresh flowers, Alec puffing his cheeks. Magnus was a very well-known man and he was glad to see that there were so many little gifts, flowers and cards; it showed that he had people in his life that cared about him and Alec couldn’t be happier about that.

Alec’s entire body was shaking as he was slowly coming closer to the bed, legs no longer being able to support the weight of his body and he quickly sat down when he was really close to the bed, slowly looking up, biting into his lower lip to prevent it from trembling when he saw Magnus on the bed. Compared to the ghost of his, he looked so different. So fragile and small. He must had lost a lot of weight, Alec’s heart breaking when his eyes located Magnus’ face. His throat was full of tubes which were helping him to breathe, remembering that Magnus once told him that he couldn’t breathe on his own and that everything hurt. There weren’t any more visible bruises, but there were a few scars visible on his face. But despite all of that, he looked as beautiful as ever.

“Hey, Magnus,” whispered Alec, tears streaming down his face then and he did nothing to stop them. He wondered; did the spirit hear him? He said a few times that he was able to hear people calling for him. “I found you,” he then whispered, smiling through his tears and looked down, his trembling fingers finding Magnus’, taking his limp hand into his own and a loud sob left the detective’s mouth when he was finally able to touch him properly. Magnus hand was warm to the touch and he had to place a hand over his mouth to prevent any more of the loud sobs from slipping out.

It hit him only then how much Magnus meant to him. He told Magnus that he didn’t know whether it was true love that he felt for him a while back, but all of his doubts were wiped away at one mere glance at Magnus. He loved the man more than he loved himself, slowly bringing Magnus hand up to his lips and he leaned down, pressing a few kisses over Magnus’ knuckles, tears wetting his cheeks again and he smiled despite the tears as he placed Magnus hand carefully back down onto the bed, leaning up and he carefully cradled Magnus’ cheek with his palm. It felt so surreal; he was able to touch him. He then removed some of the hair that was falling over Magnus’ eyes and then pressed one final kiss in between his eyebrows, before he sat back down onto the chair, wiping his tears away, laughing happily.

“I wonder though, can you hear me?” whispered Alec and his trembling hands were gently gripping onto Magnus’. “Well, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I found you,” stammered the detective and puffed his cheeks. “And now we can focus on waking you up,” he then added and felt fear setting in again. What if Magnus’ condition was so bad that he would never wake up? For all he knew, he could be already dead… he was hooked on so many machines that were keeping him alive. He didn’t expect that it was that bad. Alec’s throat started burning and he quickly shook his head. No, he was going to wake up.

“I love you,” he then whispered and bowed his head down when he realised that Magnus didn’t hear him. His heart sped up; he couldn’t wait to go home and tell Magnus’ spirit how he felt about him. Alec then glanced at the clock and realised that he had a few more minutes with Magnus, he decided to make the best out of it, pressing a few kisses against Magnus’ hand again, sighing, and gritting his teeth as dark thoughts overcame his mind yet again.

* * *

While Alec was out, Magnus was waiting for him back at his apartment, but the whole waiting bored the hell out of him. One moment he was laying on Alec’s bed, then the other he was in the kitchen, turning on and off the faucet, to keep himself entertained. But he quickly stopped when he realised how childish he was being, appearing on the couch and he groaned. Being a ghost sucked when Alec wasn’t around. Heck, he even liked Simon’s attention, since he was the only one who could at least hear him. Magnus felt like a big pile of sadness as he was sitting there in the empty apartment and he made his way to Alec’s personal stuff, itching to go through some things.

The thing that first caught Magnus’ attention among Alec’s things was an album of his photos, the ghost’s curiosity sparking like crazy. Magnus was a reasonable person and he knew how wrong it was going through someone’s things, especially through something as person as a photo album was, but he was tempted to see just what kind of a person Alec used to be. And if he had any luck, maybe he’d get to see Alec as a precious little child. He was adorable as an adult and he could only imagine how adorable Alec was as a child. With that on his mind, Magnus lifted the album on top and then made plop on the couch, he appearing on it and could only hope he had enough energy to actually turn the pages.

Much to his luck, he was able to muster up enough energy to turn the pages and his eyes grew wide, because there in front of him were pictures of Alec as a child, his chest melting when he saw how carefree he looked. His big hazel eyes were full of wonder and innocence, completely oblivious of the pain and heartbreak he’d have to experience in his later years. Sadness crept into Magnus’ chest and he then placed a finger over one of the pictures, his good mood returning quite quickly as he turned a few pages, Alec accompanied by Izzy and Jace.

They appeared to be around the ages of 10 or 11 and it had to be Halloween time when the picture was taken, Izzy dressed as a ladybug, Jace as a policemen and Alec was a duck, the blonde one looking strangely at him. It almost looked like Jace was afraid of Alec, Magnus laughing out loud as he continued to flip pages, sighing when he saw a picture of Alec with his parents - probably. Alec never mentioned his parents and Magnus had to wonder if they had a falling out. He’d have to ask him that one day. A few pages later, Magnus saw Alec holding a baby and he bit into his lower lip to prevent himself from smiling too widely. Max Lightwood, said under the picture and Magnus took in a deep breath. Alec had another sibling? It only hit him then that he knew very little about Alec’s past, but was eager to learn more.

After going through another album, which featured Alec’s teen years, he lifted the third one and carried it to the couch, his eyes widening when he saw the first picture in the album; Alec’s graduation day from University and he gently ran his fingers over the picture. He looked so handsome, thought Magnus and his smile began growing as he started flipping the pages again, people next to him mostly Isabelle, Jace and his little brother. There were a couple of them with Alec and Clary together, Magnus chuckling; Alec looked so uncomfortable. Magnus was having fun until he turned the page again and saw someone that was very familiar to him standing next to Alec.

It didn’t take him too long to figure out who that was; it was Alec’s ex-boyfriend and Magnus wrinkled his nose, but the eerie feeling that he knew the man from somewhere lingered around. His hands started shaking when that face got a name; Chris. That was the same Chris that he found Camille with that night when he followed her. He got into her car and followed Camille to… here. He followed Camille to the place that belonged to Alec now. As soon as he realised that, he dropped the album onto the floor and felt sick down to his stomach.

This is why he knew where Alec lived to begin with! Magnus knew there was a reason that his soul found Alec, despite him still being technically alive. They were linked, but he never knew that they were linked like that. Oh, the universe really was a bitch at some times, the lights above Magnus’ head flickering as his stomach dropped. There had to be more to it; if that was it then the universe was playing some cruel joke with them!

Memories and darkness started to overcome Magnus as he started to think about it more and he could feel himself slipping into the empty void again. He hated himself that he couldn’t control his emotions better and he let out a hitched breath again, tears wetting his cheeks. Just as he was about to give in, he suddenly heard someone calling his name. Magnus, said a soft voice, Magnus looking around, but he couldn’t see anyone. The voice was warm and soothing, it calmed him down.

 _I’m here_ , then came another voice and suddenly, Magnus felt his palm warming up. It was as if someone was holding his hand, letting out a hitched breath when he felt a touch at his cheek and his forehead. He knew he should be freaked out, but he wasn’t. He felt warm and secure, he felt safe and he could recognise the voice and the touches; it was Alec. Somehow. It didn’t make much sense, but nothing did lately and Magnus just curled up into the couch and allowed the warmth of Alec’s voice calling out for him soothe him.

Magnus was slipping again, the more that he was concentrating on Alec’s voice. Again, he could hear the beeping sounds and even though his throat hurt, he didn’t care. Usually when he’d go to that place, he was afraid, but not this time. This time, Alec was there too. There was a caress at his forehead again and he almost smiled. Magnus wanted to move, to open his eyes, but couldn’t. He felt trapped and he panicked when the warmth suddenly disappeared. He tried calling out for Alec, but nothing came out of his mouth and he could no longer hear his voice. Again, he was alone in the empty darkness and he was afraid. He felt abandoned; even Alec abandoned him.

That was until he heard someone opening the door and he was snapped back to reality, looking around. He found himself back in Alec’s apartment, looking lost, his eyes widening when he saw Alec stepping inside. Quickly, Magnus put the albums on their original place and then turned to Alec. Overjoyed to see him, he rushed over to the door and in his attempt to hug the detective, he went right through him, knocking Alec onto the ground. As Alec lost his balance, he let out a loud yelp and ended on the floor, Magnus now above him, Alec shocked to see that the ghost’s cheeks were damp with tears.

“Alexander, you’re here,” said Magnus, his voice breaking and he didn’t even realise that he was crying. “I thought you were gone. I had a terrible nightmare that you left me and-”

“Shh, calm down. I’m here,” whispered Alec and placed a palm against Magnus’ cheek, sadness filling his heart, because he wasn’t able to touch Magnus properly this time. He was a mess as well, but managed to hold back, because Magnus was in a bigger need of a talk. “It was just a nightmare, you know I’d never leave you,” stammered Alec and Magnus nodded, tears going to his eyes again and as he blinked, they fell down. Without knowing it himself, Alec attempts to wipe the tears away, but he cursed, because he couldn’t and he clenched his teeth. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“I know, I know,” whispered Magnus and sniffled, closing his eyes when he felt Alec’s hand drawing uneven patterns against his neck. “You’re here, that’s all that matters,” stammered the ghost then and Alec gave him a little nod, his heart jumping into his throat and he bowed his head down, allowing the hair to fall over his eyes.

“I went to the hospital today,” stammered Alec and Magnus frowned.

“What?”

“The one where your body is currently resting in,” whispered Alec and pulled back, scared that he might’ve made Magnus angry, so he kept his distance for the time being. “I, um, I know I said I wouldn’t go, but I just couldn’t go on without seeing you,” stammered the detective. “And-and I saw you,” he then added painfully slowly.

“Oh,” whispered Magnus and then remembered hearing Alec calling out for him. He remembered feeling trapped again, which was probably the result of his soul returning back to his body for a few moments, a tiny smile spreading across his face when he remembered how calm and loved he felt when the warmth of Alec’s body hugged him. “I could hear you, you know?” whispered Magnus and looked up. “And feel you too. I was back in that horrible black void, but for the first time I was able to feel safe and at peace, now I realised that it’s because of you,” whispered Magnus and Alec pressed his lips together.

“Seeing you there and being able to finally touch you made me realise one thing that I’ve been avoiding to admitting to myself,” said Alec and Magnus looked at him, waiting for an answer. “What I feel for you, it’s not just a stupid, silly, little crush. I love you, Magnus,” stammered the detective.

“Well, I knew that from the start,” said Magnus softly with a smile. “Took you a while to realise it,” he then added and grinned.

Alec let out a nervous laughter and then looked back down. “This is why I need you to wake up, Magnus,” said Alec, his voice shaking slightly. “A-and not just because of me. A lot of people are counting on you and wishing you the best. You’re missed by your friends, and from what I could see you have many of them.”

“I have friends?” stammered Magnus, happiness setting into his chest and he swallowed back the rush of emotions. “So I’m not abandoned like I thought? I actually have people that care for me,” whispered the spirit and Alec nodded.

“Of course. You’ve touched so many people’s lives,” said Alec happily. “And you need to wake up. I’m prepared to do everything to help you with that, though I’m not sure if I can do much.”

“Yeah,” whispered Magnus with a tiny smile and grinned when Alec closed his eyes as he came closer to him. He gently pressed his lips against Alec’s and then pulled back, his smile wider when Alec opened his eyes, a shy smile forming on his lips. “It’s time for me to start living again,” said Magnus and closed his eyes as Alec took his hand into his own, feeling beyond happy.

Magnus was determined; no matter what the odds were, he was going to wake up and finally start living his life, looking forward to the future and not live in the past like he used to.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello angst, my dear old friend, we meet again.

Alec was standing in front of the hospital again, dying to see Magnus. He knew that he was playing with fire to be there at the hospital; if Camille would see him or found out that he was visiting Magnus, she would probably make it impossible for him to see Magnus again. The detective knew that he needed to be smart, but as love-struck as he was, he couldn't help but to do a few stupid mistakes as he went along. Well, he made sure that Camille wasn't going to be there that day. Maia told him that her boss was taking a business trip across the world, all the way to Italy, so he was free to go visit Magnus. This time, however, he was determined to get some answers from one of the doctors. He knew what he was risking when he’d ask something about Magnus, but he needed to know what the chances of him waking up again were.

With a deep breath, Alec stepped inside of the hospital and looked around. Luckily, this time, there wasn’t anyone sitting at the front desk and because he didn’t want to gain too much unwanted attention from the others, he quickly made his way up the stairs, without signing his name to the list of visitors. He didn’t want Camille to know he had been there so many times. Well, it was only the second one, but still, more than enough for her to start getting suspicious if someone showed her the guest sheet. This time, he knew where Magnus’ room was, so he made his way up, turned to the hallway and then walked over to the room, where Magnus was sleeping. Before stepping inside, he rubbed his palms together and he felt his heart beating fast. Was Magnus going to feel him this time, like the last one?

Magnus told him that he could feel him when he was there with his physical body and Alec’s whole body warmed up at the thought of embracing the spirit’s body with warmth and love again. There was only so much that he could do to make Magnus feel at ease and he was prepared to go to many lengths, just to see Magnus smile and feel safe. With that on his mind, he slowly opened the door and stepped inside, quickly closing the door and then turned around, broad smile coming upon his face as he turned around to face Magnus. However, his smile was wiped away when he saw someone sitting next to Magnus and he stiffened, because he couldn’t recognise them. It was a young woman, dressed as a doctor, so Alec could only imagine that she was one of the doctors. However, by the way she was holding Magnus’ hand and with tears present in her eyes when she turned around to see who stepped inside of the room, Alec noticed that she wasn’t just a random doctor. She must’ve been close to Magnus and he felt shivers running up his spine.

“Um, hi,” stammered Alec and slowly came closer to the bed, the woman quickly wiping away the tears that suddenly fell down her cheeks and sniffled, turned around, but then as she collected herself enough, she turned around again and forced a little smile upon her face.

“Hello, there,” said the woman and signed Alec to come closer, the detective stepping closer to her and then took her hand when she offered it to him. “I’m Catarina Loss,” she then said, shaking Alec’s hand and then looked over to Magnus. “And you are? I don’t remember seeing you here before,” she then added and Alec stiffened.

“Alexander Lightwood,” said Alec softly and made a short pause. “I’m, um, Magnus’ friend. You’re his doctor?” he then asked, thinking that it was a perfect opportunity to ask the woman some questions about Magnus’ actual condition.

“Oh, I don’t remember Magnus having a friend named like you,” said Catarina and shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t matter. No, I’m not his doctor. I mean, I work here, but no, I’m not his doctor. I’m his friend,” she said and bit into his lower lip. “Well, if you’re his friend, do come closer. I don’t bite,” she then said and laughed softly, Alec letting out a nervous laughter, but he stepped closer and pressed his lips together.

Alec looked down at Magnus and felt his heart jumping again; he looked so peaceful and Alec had to look away if he didn’t want to give into his emotions in front of Catarina. Well, at least now he knew a name one of Magnus’ friends. Maybe he was going to remember something more after he’d let him know that piece of information. During the past few months, Magnus thought that he had absolutely no one, that he was abandoned, so Alec was beyond happy to see that that wasn’t the case. Besides, there was no way that a guy like Magnus wouldn’t have any friends and people in his life. There was just something about him that it made impossible for a person to stay away from Magnus. He was just so damn charming. He shook his head, snapping himself back to reality and he then glanced at Catarina, who was now back at staring at Magnus’ face and he took in a deep breath. Even know the woman wasn’t Magnus’ doctor, she still had to know something, right? At the end of the day, she _was_ a doctor.

“Hey, um, can I ask you something?” asked Alec painfully slowly and Catarina slowly looked up at him and then slowly nodded. “Okay, good, so,” stammered the detective and rubbed his palms together. “I know that you aren’t his doctor, but can I ask a few questions about his condition?” asked Alec and Catarina nodded again, but looked less comfortable. “Well, I heard that he suffered a lot of trauma to his head… I just… how bad is it?”

When Alec asked the question, Catarina stiffened up and more tears came to her eyes, Alec stiffening, because that couldn’t mean anything good. After a few seconds, Catarina managed to collect herself enough and she quickly shook her head. “I can’t tell you that, as you’ve mentioned I’m not his doctor. That are private details about the patient and-”

“But you’re his _friend_. _I’m_ his friend too,” stated Alec and clenched his jaw. “I just… I just want to know how big the possibilities of him waking up again are. That’s all I ask of you to tell me,” whispered Alec softly and Catarina’s face stiffened again, but then slowly nodded, because she could see it in Alec’s eyes that he cared for her friend. Heck, she saw more concern and love in this stranger’s eyes than when she’d look into Camille’s eyes. That woman was cold as a stone when it came to Magnus and her actions spoke for themselves.

Camille visited Magnus quite a lot in the hospital, but the main concern wasn’t Magnus’ condition. She just wanted Magnus to wake up because she wanted to proceed with her dirty plan of marrying Magnus and then taking everything he had; Magnus told Catarina all of that and honestly, she couldn’t find it hard to believe. Catarina signed a c _onfidentiality_ contract, but at this point, she didn’t care. For all she cared, Camille could make the staff fire her at the hospital, but that didn’t matter anymore. In Catarina’s opinion, it was Camille’s fault for Magnus’ current condition.

“Magnus, he, um…” started Catarina and her grip around Magnus’ hand tightened. She puffed her cheeks as she fought back the tears again and looked up towards the ceiling, calming down a bit again and she looked towards Alec. “The chances of him waking up again are, um, very slim. Close to none. He’s been in a coma for close to three months now and, well, he isn’t showing any signs of progress,” whispered Catarina and all of the colour drained from Alec’s face.

“Oh God,” whispered Alec and felt shivers running up his spine, the temperature of the room suddenly dropping and he bit into his lower lip, trying to keep up a tough appearance, but he was slowly crumbling and Catarina could see that. “But-but… there’s still a possibility that he can wake up, right?” whispered Alec. “I mean… I’ve read about cases of people waking up after months and even years of spending in a coma and they were okay,” said Alec and then Catarina bowed her head down, tears wetting her cheeks again, Alec freezing again.

“It’s better if he doesn’t wake up,” whispered Catarina. “The damages to his head were so severe that it would be better if he doesn’t wake up,” she said and Alec panicked. “If there happens to be a miracle and if he wakes up, then his life would be a living hell. He’d be sentenced to a life in bed,” she stammered. “Mr. Lightwood… Magnus will suffer if he wakes up,” she whispered and Alec felt ground disappearing beneath his legs, knees buckling and he placed a hand on top of his mouth.

Shit, he had no idea that Magnus’ condition would be so bad. Alec felt his eyes burning and his throat tightened as did his chest. He grabbed his own shirt and then shook his head; Magnus told him to always have hope. He was the one who taught him to have a more bright and positive perspective of the world. But, how could he, now that he knew all the facts? “But… with enough therapy and recovery… would he be able to get better?” stammered Alec. “I would help him, I-”

“Alexander,” said Catarina and shook her head. “We don’t know… I just… that would be very unlikely,” she then said and shook her head. “I’m not going to sugar coat it, I can tell you from my experiences. It would be hell and Magnus would be miserable, trust me. He loves his job, he loves creating and without being able to do the only thing he has in his life that he values more than life itself, he’d be rather dead,” said Catarina in the end and Alec broke down when he heard that. All of the little hope that he still had left disappeared in thin air and tears wetted his face, his shoulders shaking as his quiet sobs filled the room.

“No, no,” said Alec and walked over to the other side of the bed and gently touched Magnus’ hand. He then knelt down next to the bed, brought Magnus’ hand up to his lips and kissed his every knuckle, like the last time and then pressed his forehead against the back of Magnus’ palm as he continued holding it in his hands.

Catarina observed the other one for a few moments and she quite quickly realised that Alec wasn’t just Magnus’ friend. “You really care about Magnus, don’t you?” asked Catarina softly and Alec slowly lifted his gaze, nodding. “You love him,” she then said softly and even though she didn’t remember Magnus mentioning him, she was happy to see that Magnus had someone like Alec in his life. Well, used to have.

Alec didn’t respond for a few moments, but then he just nodded as he looked up. “Yeah, I love him,” said the detective slowly and Catarina just nodded. That much was pretty obvious.

“So, Alexander Lightwood,” started Catarina and got onto her legs, knowing that she should probably leave Alec alone with Magnus for a little while. She felt that she was disturbing a private moment between the two of them and she knew that that was a cue for her to leave. “I’ll leave you alone with him for a little while,” she then added and Alec slowly nodded and got onto his legs, walking after the woman.

“Just call me Alec, no need to be so formal,” whispered Alec since the woman was Magnus’ friend and Catarina gave Alec a little nod. “And, well, since you’re his friend and a doctor here… could I ask you for your number? I, um, I would like to keep in touch with you. I don’t know many people that were Magnus’ friends, so… you know,” stammered the detective awkwardly, Catarina taking a few moments to think about it, but in the end nodded.

“Sure, sounds good, Alec,” said Catarina and pulled her business card out of her coat and handed it to Alec. “Here you go, call me when you feel like it. We could meet up sometime and… talk,” said the doctor and Alec nodded, his body tensing again as Catarina gave him one final pat onto his shoulder and then walked out of the room, slowly closing the door.

Once alone in the room, Alec went quickly over to Magnus’ bed and sat onto the chair, a sad smile spreading across his face. Deep inside, he felt devastated; the things Catarina told him finally started sinking in properly and the more he thought about everything, the more he realised that she was probably right, it would be better if Magnus never woke up. According to Catarina, Magnus loved his job and with a life doomed to spend on his bed, he didn’t know how much Magnus would want to go back to his body when he’d tell him the risks. Alec was ready to be there for him with everything that he would need, but at the same time, he didn’t want to force Magnus to wake up just for his sake. Alec’s heart was breaking again and he gasped as he looked up to see Magnus’ sleeping face and he broke down in tears again.

“Hey there,” whispered Alec softly and wiped away his tears, before he leaned down and kissed Magnus’ forehead softly, kissing both of his eyelids and then gave one final kiss onto his left cheek, feeling his chest tightening. “I came to see you again. I wonder, can you hear me, Magnus?” asked Alec softly and looked around, to see if Magnus’ spirit would appear, but he didn’t and he sighed, bowing his head down, but then forced himself to look up.

Alec puffed his cheeks and bit into his lower lip, not knowing what to say really since he could easily talk to Magnus’ ghost. But maybe talking to Magnus in person would help the ghost with going inside his body again. Alec didn’t know what he was doing really. Maybe he’d have to ask Simon, who seemed to know more about these things. “So, I met you friend earlier. Catarina,” said Alec softly and shrugged. “She seems like a good person and a friend. She, um, could see right through me,” said Alec, his voice getting weak and he made a short pause. “Well, she could tell that I love you and, um… I don’t know, this is just stupid. Me talking to you like this,” whispered Alec and looked down.

Alec then leaned down to press another kiss against the man’s forehead and he then placed his hand gently against Magnus’ chest. He could see that Magnus’ heart was beating on the monitor of the machine, but he needed to feel it for his own. Tears went to his eyes when he felt Magnus’ slow and steady heartbeat, his chest descending and lifting peacefully as well and he swallowed back a sob. The thought of Magnus waking up thrilled him before, but now, he wasn’t so sure anymore. He didn’t want Magnus to suffer anymore; he had been through too much already.

Alec sat there next to Magnus for a few minutes in complete silence, holding Magnus’ hand into his own, linking their fingers together and then sighed as he held onto Magnus’ hand. He didn’t know what more could he do, to be honest. He looked down to their hands, eyes travelling to his other hand and he slowly released Magnus’ hand with his other one. On his other hand, he had been wearing a simple, silver ring and he slowly took it off. The ring was nothing special up until then, he bought it for himself because he thought it was pretty. He played with it in his fingers for a few moments, until he took Magnus’ hand back into his and slowly slipped the ring onto the other’s ring finger.

“Here,” whispered Alec and shrugged. “I know it’s not a lot, but I want you to have something of mine,” he then added and made a few moments of silence, before he continued and he chewed on his lower lip. “Anyway, it looks better on you than it does on me,” said the detective. “I know that I might not be the most romantic person in the world, but let this be my promise to you to be always there for you,” he then said and felt his face heating up. He couldn’t say those words to be spirit with a straight face. But, he was able to do it with unconscious Magnus. “I’ll never leave you and if you do end up waking up, I’ll help you. With anything, everything, Magnus,” he then added and shrugged.

“Catarina said that you’d rather be dead than alive with the prognosis she gave me,” said Alec and his breath shook. “But, I’m not ready to give up quite yet,” said Alec and cursed, his throat burning. “You taught me to be more optimistic and that’s what I’ll do. Besides, there are a lot of cases about people exceeding doctors’ expectations. I might be asking the Universe for a miracle, but… you know. I can’t give up quite yet. We’ve came so far,” added Alec and bowed his head down. “And even if it turns out to be true… what Catarina said… I would be there for you. No matter what, Magnus. Because you’ve done so much for me so far, so I just… I don’t know,” said Alec and bit into his lower lip, his voice breaking and he puffed his cheeks. “I love you.”

As he said that, Alec kissed Magnus’ palm again and then gave Magnus’ forehead another kiss, his eyes widening as he sat down and saw a fresh tear rolling down Magnus’ cheek, Alec’s heart skipping a beat and he placed a hand on top of his mouth. Just as quickly as he wiped away the falling tear, another one fell and Alec just stood there. Magnus was there, he could hear him. That was the only explanation for the tears; he must’ve heard him. Not knowing what to do, Alec’s grip around Magnus’ hand tightened and he tried calling out to him again. Maybe then, he’d get Magnus to wake up properly.

“Magnus, hey,” stammered Alec, panicking. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be selfish and want a moment like that all to himself. He should had called a doctor, to let them know what’s going on. But at the same time, he didn’t want to risk being kicked out. Also, in the heap of the moment, all that he could think about was Magnus. “Come on, open your eyes for me. I’m here, it’s me… Alec,” he then stammered and his chest swell when he noticed that Magnus’ heartbeat was much faster. He was there, he could hear him. However, he still wouldn’t open his eyes.

And Alec was right, Magnus was there. Trapped inside of his body; he felt imprisoned again when he heard someone calling out for him and when he realised that it was Alec, he felt safe again. This time, he didn’t panic, because he knew where he was. He was in his body, unable to move, but he could still hear Alec talking to him and all the things he said, made Magnus’ heart weep. Magnus’ heart was breaking that he couldn’t open his eyes, but he still wanted Alec to know that he was there, listening to him.

For the first time, he could properly feel Alec touching him, with him being aware, and when he felt a pair of lips being pressed against his forehead, he was pushed over the edge. All of the emotions he was feeling were overwhelming and he let the tears fall, Alec quickly catching them with his finger and he felt weight lifting off of his chest; Alec knew he was there. That was all that mattered and Magnus felt his heart speeding up when Alec’s strong hand was wrapped around his own. God, he loved Alec.

“I need to get a doctor,” suddenly heard Magnus and he panicked. No, he didn’t want to be left all alone again. "I’ll call Catarina, yes, she gave me her number before," said Alec next and just as Magnus was afraid that Alec left, he felt a strong hand holding his again, Alec remembering how much Magnus hated being left all alone. “It’s okay, Magnus, I’m not going anywhere,” whispered the detective and pulled out his phone, dialling Catarina’s number. After a few seconds, the call was picked up and Alec took in a deep breath. “Hey. It’s Alec Lightwood, the guy you met earlier?” said Alec awkwardly. “Can you please come here? You need to see this,” he whispered and Catarina quickly ended the phone call, Alec going back to Magnus and he kissed his palm again as he waited for the doctor to come in.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your guys' support. It makes my day to see your comments and your opinions make me motivated to continue writing this :). Tbh, a while back I was considering ending the story altogether (kind of lost my motivation for a little while), but when I see how much people like it changed my mind :')  
> I hope you continue liking this and I promise to continue working hard to bring more well-written chapters in the future.

Alec was an emotional wreck, he had been in that state ever since his last visit to the hospital. Alec hoped that the tears were a good sign, but Catarina later let him know that the tears were probably just a physical respond of Magnus’ body to something like an irritation in his eyes. She tried to be hopeful, but after trying to get more reactions from him, she gave up. Alec, on the other hand, didn’t believe it. Magnus clearly reacted to his voice; he was listening to him, he was sure of it. He didn’t know how he knew that, he just did. He could feel him, somewhere inside, Magnus was trapped and listening to him. Alec tried explaining to the doctor that he could see that Magnus’ heartbeat got a lot faster than usual when he would talk to him, but Catarina told him that it was just a coincidence.

Catarina hated not being optimistic; she was usually one of the most optimistic doctors when it came to telling the patients their prognosis, but she couldn’t keep lying to herself anymore. Also, she didn’t want to give false hope to Alec; it was useless to keep hoping for a miracle that wasn’t going to happen. Catarina had learned it the hard way, Magnus wasn’t waking up. There was no way, given all the details she knew about his condition. And she struggled not to make it personal, but she couldn’t help herself; Magnus was one of her best friends and it was impossible not to make it personal. Her news shattered Alec’s heart, but it was for the best in her opinion. It was wiser to give up sooner than to get burnt even more.

Alec, who was currently in his apartment, didn’t know what to do with himself. Ever since his last visit to the hospital, Magnus was nowhere to be seen and was probably again trapped inside of his body, which made things that more harder on Alec. He was dying to talk to Magnus’ spirit, but not being able to see him took a huge toll on Alec and he was slowly, but gradually, slowly closing himself again from the world. Both Isabelle and Jace were trying to get him out of the apartment, but Alec refused to communicate with the world, too preoccupied with things on his mind anyway. He was trying to keep hope and was thinking about the next step, but he was afraid that he really reached dead end this time. Or worse, maybe that was the end itself after all.

However, there surely must’ve been more to that. It couldn’t just be… over, could it? It wasn’t supposed to end that way, they were supposed to get their happy ending. Magnus promised him a happy future and Alec felt a hole appearing in his heart, which he was desperate to fill, but he didn’t know with what. Usually, he would just get himself drunk, but after he saw what alcohol did to Magnus, he refused to touch it ever again. So there he was, completely alone and sober, forced to deal with his emotions and heartbreak. And he hated it. He clenched his teeth and then looked up when his phone started buzzing, sighing when he saw the name written on the screen; Jace. Jace was calling him for the fourth time in a row now and Alec felt guilt setting in his heart. He knew that his friend was worried, but he really wasn’t in a mood to talk. Yet, he forced himself to pick up the call, because worrying Jace was what he hated even more than talking to people at the moment.

“Hey,” said Alec painfully slowly and cleared his throat, rubbing his forehead as he got up into sitting position and he sighed, taking a few moments of silence and he then frowned, because Jace wasn’t saying anything. “Jace, you there?” asked Alec then and relaxed when he finally received a reply from the other side of the phone call.

“Alec!” said the voice from the other side of the phone call. “You finally picked up,” said the blond and Alec looked down even though he was alone in the room currently. “Where have you been the past few days? I can’t contact you at all ever since you called in sick two days ago,” said Jace and Alec could sense worry in his partner’s voice. “I’m worried. Izzy said you’re not picking up her calls as well. What in the world happened to you?”

Alec clenched his jaw and then took in a deep breath, deciding to go with the easiest way to get out of this; lying. “Sorry about that,” said Alec and then shrugged. “Like I told you, I’m sick, so I was mostly asleep for the past few days,” said Alec and then hoped that Jace would stop pestering him about that, but he knew that it wouldn’t be so easy. Jace could always read him like an open book, so he only rolled his eyes when Jace started speaking again.

“That’s bullshit,” said Jace and Alec only stayed quiet after that. “Do you think I don’t know when you’re lying to me? I know you’re not sick, you never get sick. And even if you do, you insist on working, so don’t try to sell me these lies,” said the blonde and Alec slumped back into the couch and closed his eyes, sighing. It was true. “Now tell me, what happened? This is just like the time when that bastard broke your heart,” said Jace, annoyed, but he wasn’t angry with Alec. He was still mad on that idiot who dared to hurt his partner. “You know you can talk to me, huh?”

“It’s just,” stammered Alec and his voice trailed off. What should he say; he didn’t even know how to reply to that. Yes, Jace was right, he was heartbroken again. But, Jace knew nothing about him falling in love with Magnus, no one did. More importantly, he knew nothing about Magnus still being alive. He wanted to keep it as a secret, if he told Jace that he fell in love with a _ghost_ than Jace would surely tell him that it was his own fault for getting hurt again. “It’s nothing, I got it, Jace. You don’t need to worry, everything will be okay. I just need some time for my own and I-”

“No,” said Jace through his teeth. “You’re not going through this _alone_ again. Remember what happened the last time? You thought that you could handle it alone and I gave you your space, but you… did stupid things, Alec,” whispered Jace and Alec felt shivers run up his spine when he remembered the few days after his break up. Well, he couldn’t remember much of them; he was drunk most of the time. “This time you’re not getting rid of me that easily. If you won’t tell me what’s going on, then I’m coming over,” announced the blond and Alec just groaned.

“You don’t need to come over, Jace,” said Alec and then took in a deep breath. “I wish I could tell you, but it’s different… you wouldn’t understand. I just,” stammered Alec and then chewed on his lower lip. “I just need some time to think about things, but I’ll be okay. Trust me on this, Jace, I’ve got it. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“ _I_ wouldn’t understand?” asked Jace, sounding offended. “Did I ever make you think you can’t tell me something?” asked Jace then softly and Alec’s silence said it all. “See? You know you can talk to me about everything, so you shouldn’t say things like that.”

“I know, I know,” said Alec and his grip around his phone tightened and his other hand started playing with the hem of his sweater and he just bowed his head down. “I just… if I tell you, then you’ll probably think that I was stupid. Besides, I don’t even know where to start.”

“It’s about Magnus, isn’t it?” was the next question that came and Alec felt his stomach twisting into a knot.

“How do you-”

“Izzy told me,” said Jace and sighed. “She told me a few things that she noticed when you’d talk to Magnus and after I observed your interaction with him, it all became clear to me,” he then added and Alec cursed silently. Of course Izzy knew; she _knew_ when he liked someone. And Jace didn’t need to do a lot of observing; Alec was practically glowing lately with Magnus around. The detective pressed his lips together and just waited for the comments to roll in. “Do you _love_ him?” asked Jace then carefully and Alec only rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, so?” said Alec stubbornly and he could hear Jace sighing on the other side of the phone call.

“But he’s a-”

“Ghost, yes, Jace, I’m pretty well aware of that,” said Alec angrily and groaned when Jace stopped talking for a few moments. So, Jace still didn’t know about Magnus being in a coma. Alec didn’t tell Izzy either, but he was sure that Maia told her about that. Yet, somehow, she forgot to mention that to Jace?

“And you still fell in love with him,” said Jace slowly, Alec rolling his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s just plain stupid,” said Jace and Alec felt his stomach dropping. Well, there it was. The words he was expecting to hear from Jace. “This isn’t like you, man. You’re usually more rational and careful about this, especially after Chris,” said the blond next and Alec just stayed silent. “What did he say to you? To make you believe you two actually have a future together? You know, I never really liked this Magnus guy, he’s just leading you on. How can’t you see-”

“Jace, please do me a favour and shut up,” said Alec and shook his head. He had a headache from all of the stupidity that was coming out of Jace’s mouth, but at the same time, Jace didn’t know all of details, so he didn’t blame him too much. “The only reason why you don’t like Magnus is because he made fun of your hair once,” he then added and grinned when he remembered how pissed Jace looked at that time. “Firstly, no one’s leading anyone on. Magnus and I discussed all of that countless numbers of times,” said Alec and shook his head. “We both knew what we were getting in. Also, FYI, Magnus’ not dead,” said Alec in the end.

After Alec said his piece, Jace was silent on the other side of the phone call and the detective groaned again, knowing that Jace was probably coming up with something stupid again. Alec knew that Jace was trying to protect him, but at the same time, he couldn’t stand Jace saying all of that about Magnus if he didn’t know all the facts, so he needed to let him know before he’d say something Alec would find it hard in forgetting it. Alec was pretty protective of Magnus and that much Jace could tell, so he needed a few moments to process all of the information that he received. Also, what was that about Magnus not being dead?

“What do you mean by saying that Magnus’ not dead?” asked Jace after a couple more seconds of silence and Alec sighed, but then nodded to himself and finally decided to tell everything that was on his mind. Maybe he’d feel better then. Probably. Usually talking helped, from what Magnus was able to teach him.

“Well, exactly what I said,” said Alec and took in a deep breath, knowing that Jace was probably confused. “Remember the accident that Magnus was involved in and how it didn’t make sense because there were no people listed as deceased? Well, I did a bit more digging and it turns out that really no one died that night. Magnus was injured badly, yes, but he survived. He’s still alive,” whispered Alec and then cleared his throat when he felt his heart fastening and Jace was silent as well, deadly silence falling in between them.

“You’re not making any sense, Alec,” said Jace, who couldn’t understand. “You _saw_ Magnus’ spirit, he’s been living with you for months now. How could he be alive if his ghost is lingering around your apartment?” asked Jace after a few moments and Alec only then realised that he forgot to tell one final piece of important information.

“He’s in a coma,” said Alec and pressed his lips together. “He’s in a private hospital, I went to see him there twice now,” stammered Alec and grabbed his shirt. “Somehow his spirit was able to leave his body. Remember how he often went missing for a few days or weeks? Well, that’s why. His spirit must’ve been sucked back into his body. He mentioned feeling trapped and hearing voices and a beeping sound… It didn’t make sense then, but it does now,” added Alec in the end and then looked down, expecting more stupid advices to come out of Jace’s mouth.

Jace didn’t say anything for a long time. He was angry, but not with Magnus anymore. He was angry with his partner, because he held back all of that from him. Also, he was disappointed in himself; Alec still didn’t trust him?! Even after all they’ve been through? It didn’t make sense, why wouldn’t Alec tell him? He gritted his teeth and then shook his head. “Why are you only telling me this now?” asked Jace and Alec felt a stab of guilt at his heart. “Why not tell me sooner? I could have helped you with investigation. Or at least be there for you when you needed me,” scolded him the blond one and Alec puffed his cheeks.

“I wanted to tell you, but I… didn’t. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I do, I just didn’t want you to judge me,” whispered and bowed his head. “I know how ridiculous it was for me to fall for Magnus. But I only did that after I realised he was still alive… only then it was when I allowed myself to fully fall for him,” was what Alec added and Jace shook his head, feeling a headache coming in. He wanted to stay annoyed, but couldn’t when he heard how much his friend was struggling, so he just decided to swallow it and move on.

“It’s okay, Alec, don’t worry about it,” said Jace after a few moments of silence and then cleared his throat before speaking again. “So why the long face then if you found out that he’s still alive? I’m sure he’ll wake up from his coma; people do that all the time and have their happily ever after. Like you and Magnus will,” said Jace and wrinkled his nose when he heard his own cheesy words and then shook his head. Clary was starting to rub off on him and not in a good way.

“A friend of Magnus… well, a doctor too,” stammered Alec. “Told me the prognosis and, um, it’s not very bright. The chances of him waking up again are slim, close to none,” stammered Alec and felt the knot in his stomach growing again. “A-and if he does wake up, he’ll suffer. Just like Izzy, he’s a fashion designer and designing is his life. Catarina, Magnus’ friend, said that he loves that more than himself and if he won’t be able to do that again then he’ll-” explained Alec and then placed a hand in front of his mouth to even out his breathing. He didn’t want to break down again, he was sick and tired of it. “I don’t want him to suffer, he’s been through so much already. B-but if that means having to let him go, I-” said Alec and when he realised what he was saying he stopped in the middle of the sentence and his eyes widened.

“Oh shit,” stammered Jace and then gulped, finally understanding the whole picture. His grip around his own phone tightened and he cursed again. He wished that Alec would say something sooner. “I had no idea, I… am sorry for calling you stupid before,” said Jace after a while and then took in a deep breath. “Look, man, doctors are wrong a lot of times, there were a lot of instances that they were wrong and people woke up and were able to return back to how they used to be,” said Jace. “If you look at it… it was a miracle that Magnus found you despite still being in a come. So maybe, the two of you are destined to be together? Everything’ll end up how it’s supposed to so-”

“Yeah… right. Destiny,” scoffed Alec and gritted his teeth, feeling a prickle in his eyes. “Hey, Jace?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you please come over?” whispered Alec and the way he asked that shattered Jace’s heart. “Magnus isn’t here and I really need someone to talk,” he then added and Jace didn’t need to be told twice.

“I’m on my way, buddy,” said Jace quickly, grabbed his things and then left the station, apologising to Luke in his mind. He knew that his boss wasn’t going to be thrilled about him missing again, but Alec was more important than his job.

* * *

When Jace reached Alec’s apartment, he was surprised to see Isabelle stepping inside of the building and he hurried after her, catching up to her before the elevator took off and he quickly squeezed inside as the door was closing, Isabelle letting out a surprised yelp when she suddenly saw the blond one standing in there with you. “Jace?” asked Isabelle, surprised. “What in the world are you doing here?” asked the girl and Jace looked at her.

“I called Alec earlier and he told me what he’s been through. He told me to come over,” said Jace. “What are you doing here?” he then asked and waited patiently as Isabelle pressed the floor number where Alec lived and then the elevator finally moved.

“Oh he answered to your calls?” asked Izzy and sighed. “I wasn’t able to get in touch with him, so I was worried and came here,” she then added and frowned. “What’s he been going through?” she then asked and Jace frowned as well. She didn’t know at all?

“You know, Magnus being in a coma and not being really dead? Also Alec is in love with him? Oh yeah, and there’s this doctor that told Alec that Magnus has no chances of waking up. Or if he does, he’ll be suffering,” said Jace quickly and Isabelle’s eyes widened.

“I knew about Magnus being in a coma and Alec being in love with him, but,” stammered Isabelle and shook her head. “I had no idea that Magnus’ condition was so bad,” she then whispered and the two of them stepped out of the elevator when it reached Alec’s floor. “It isn’t a wonder then why he’s been acting like that,” said Izzy and felt terrible for not being there for Alec more. It was true that she didn’t know, but still. She should be there, as a sister.

“Yeah,” said Jace softly and the two of them made their way to Alec’s door. Jace then rang the doorbell and looked down. “I had no idea about anything… I can’t believe he didn’t tell me. He tells me everything,” said Jace and felt a stab at his heart. He was upset, but at the same time, he was hurt as well. “But still… I should’ve been there for him more. I knew that something was wrong, as soon as he called in sick. Yet, I did nothing. I waited for a few days instead of going to check up on his immediately.”

Just as Izzy wanted to tell Jace that it wasn’t his fault, the door opened. As Alec opened the door it was pretty obvious that he had been crying; his eyes were red and puffy, Izzy’s heart breaking when she took a look at her older brother. “Oh, Alec,” whispered Isabelle and immediately stepped inside, wrapped her arms around the taller one and pulled him down for a hug, Alec not minding it one bit. Jace quickly stepped inside of the apartment and closed the door, watching the other two and he sighed. “Jace told me everything,” whispered Isabelle once she pulled back from the hug and Alec only nodded, looking down as he fought back the tears again. “Is Magnus here somewhere?” she then asked and started looking around the apartment, Jace placing a hand on top of her shoulder and shook his head.

“No,” whispered Alec. “He’s been gone for two days now, probably stuck in his own body and can’t get out,” he said with a sigh and then turned around, walking into his living room and he then shook his head.

“Oh,” whispered Isabelle and her stomach dropped. “I didn’t-”

“It’s okay,” whispered Alec and gave her a weak smile.

“He’ll come back, buddy, you’ll see,” said Jace softly and Alec’s heart squeezed again and he quickly shook his head.

“Can we do something else? I don’t wanna talk about it anymore,” whispered Alec and Jace quickly nodded.

“Of course, whatever you want to do,” said Jace. “I just thought that you wanted to talk about it because you said so earlier. But if you don’t want to at the moment, then it’s okay. We can do something else,” said Jace. “Isn’t that right, Iz?” he then asked and looked over his shoulder, where Isabelle was and she quickly nodded.

“Of course,” said Isabelle and gave Alec a little smile. “What do you wanna do?” she then asked.

“I don’t know,” said Alec and shrugged. “Something that’ll take my mind off this,” he then added and Isabelle quickly came up with something that would ease her brother’s mind.

“Maybe we could watch a movie?” asked Isabelle. “Something light… like a comedy,” she then added and Alec nodded, because that seemed like a good idea.

While Isabelle went out to pick a movie, Jace went into the kitchen to make them some popcorn. After a few moments, everything was set for watching the movie and Alec gave Jace a little smile when he handed him the popcorn. He thanked him as he was handed the bowl and then sat in the middle of the couch. Without saying anything, Jace and Izzy sat down next to Alec, each to every side of Alec and watched the movie in complete silence.

Even though they were watching a comedy, neither of them was laughing nor even smiling for that matter. Concerned, Jace and Izzy kept looking over at Alec, who was just blankly staring at the TV screen, his thoughts still with Magnus. Half an hour into the movie, or so, Alec broke down completely, Isabelle taking the bowl of popcorn from his lap and placed it onto the coffee table, while Alec buried his face into the crook of Jace’s neck, his sobs getting louder when he felt Jace’s arms going around him, crying harder when he felt Isabelle leaning to him as well, gently ruffling Alec’s hair.

“Shh, everything will be okay,” whispered Jace and Isabelle nodded.

“We promise,” added Izzy and all that Alec could do was hug both of them, squeezing them tightly to himself and he squeezed his eyes. No, things weren’t going to be okay, Alec thought, but hearing those words made him feel at ease just a little bit. As he calmed down a little bit, he then finally started talking, pouring his heart and soul to both Jace and Isabelle, who were more than willing to listen to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do excuse me for another angsty chapter yet again. I promise it'll be worth it in the end :')


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for mistakes in this chapter, I didn't feel like proof-reading this. I hope it's okay and I hope you like the chapter as it is.

During the next few days, Magnus was still nowhere to be seen, Alec moping around as he was trying to come up with something to distract himself as he waited for something to happen. He found himself in a complete dead-end and because he didn't know how to go on from that point on, he decided to wait for a few days. Patience is a virtue, was what people said and he decided to go with that. As he was still heart broken, he didn't want to do something stupid and because he didn't want to endanger Magnus' investigation, he somehow forced himself not to go to the hospital for almost over a week. It was tough, but Maia had told him that Camille was looking kind of on the edge lately and because he overheard her talking with someone, hearing Alec's name mentioned, he immediately called the detective, telling him everything that she knew.

Alec knew that this meant only one thing; Camille knew about his little visit to Magnus. He signed his name the first time he was there, so of course she knew. Because he didn't want to attract too much unwanted attention to himself and the case, he stayed low, even though it was killing him to be away from Magnus. At least in the hospital he'd be able to see his face. It would be enough. And all of that pressure was bringing him close to the edge again, but he didn't allow himself to give in so quickly. Magnus told him to always have hope. Also, Jace, Isabelle and his others friends were there to stay by his side, making sure that he was going to be okay and Alec was more than grateful for having all of them. Yet, at the same time, he was selfish. He wanted Magnus; no, he needed him.

In a few days, with the help of his friends and sister, Alec managed to pull himself together and was feeling well enough emotionally to go back to work. Well, it was good for his mental state to be back at work anyway. If he stayed back at home, he was constantly overthinking things and it was slowly starting to drive him insane. Isabelle, Jace and even Clary were around as much as they could, but during the days, they had things to do; work. And even though they were more than ready to drop everything they were doing to be there for Alec, he didn’t want them to do that. He was an adult and mature enough to know the real world wouldn’t really care for his problems; many others suffered and had it more difficult than him. Because of that, Alec decided to suck it up and forced himself to ignore his problems for the time being and tried to focus on the new case.

Alec, who was currently on the crime scene, was trying his best to pull himself together and he miserably followed Jace inside of the house, in which horror awaited them. The first thing that Alec saw was blood, God there was so much of it. It was splattered around the walls and the ceiling and Alec had to hold back his breath as he stepped inside, finally snapping out of his thinking about Magnus. There was a blood trail leading from the hallway into the kitchen, where there was found a young woman, somewhere around Alec’s age, her lifeless body sprawled on the cold floor. Her eyes were wide open in horror, as if she was still facing her murderer and Alec shivered when he saw the murder weapon; a butcher knife was lying next to the victim, covered in blood and Alec had to look away when he noticed just how many stab wounds she had. However, even though there were so many stab wounds on her, that didn’t explain the amount of blood in the hallway. There needed to be more to the case.

Alec looked towards Jace, who stepped next to Simon, who was in the middle of doing the medical investigation on the scene. Alec didn’t dare to step closer, but he could overhear them talking. The time of death had to be somewhere from 3 am to 4 am that night. Alec glanced at the body and he could tell that there were signs of struggle; her legs and hands were full of bruises and cuts, her nails broken and bloody. And then it happened; he felt that feeling again, as if someone was watching over him. Temperature of the room dropped, but he was the only one who seemed to notice it and he literally shivered. As he turned around, he almost jumped and let out a small yelp, because he was staring face-to-face with a ghost and he needed a few moments to collect himself, because the ghost looked anything but pleasing to the eyes.

The ghost wasn’t the young female that was laying on the floor, it was a man, who looked a bit older than their current victim. But the thing that struck Alec the most was how he looked; he was completely pale, dark circles under his eyes. Alec stepped back when he noticed that he couldn’t even properly see the ghost’s eyes and he placed a hand on top of his mouth as the other turned around. There was blood gushing out of his head, his skull was cracked and Alec tried his best not to scream out loud. Then just like that, the ghost grabbed him by his wrist, Alec’s eyes rolling at the back of his head as the ghost evoked the vision.

Alec suddenly found himself on the floor and he felt weak. So weak. His throat was burning and as he tried to yell nothing came out of his mouth. Only then he realised that he was actually having a vision and he let out a hitched breath when he noticed that the victim was tied up, a cloth stuffed in his mouth so that he couldn’t scream, nor breathe properly. Whoever the guy was, he was tied up and in a small, dark place. He couldn’t move at all, but after some time, Alec noticed a small ray of light coming from somewhere, quickly locating a little hole in something that looked like a door. Alec felt the victim’s fear when he suddenly heard the voices coming from the outside and he peaked through a small hole, his eyes widening when he saw the young woman, the same who was now lying dead on the floor, laughing in the hallway in the arms of an unknown man.

The two were laughing and having fun until all the hell broke loose. Suddenly Alec heard a scream and another one; there were screams of begging to stop, begging to let her live. However, the murderer didn’t stop and all that the poor guy could do was to watch how the woman got murdered right in front of his eyes. The murderer was now sitting on top of her and stabbing her over and over again. Alec could feel that she meant a lot to him and his stomach fell when the screams finally stopped, the murderer dragging the woman’s body to the kitchen and then suddenly, the door opened, the light from the hallway almost blinding him. Alec could finally see where the guy was being tied up and hidden; in the closet that he passed by in the hallway. Alec tried figuring out how the murderer looked, but he couldn’t tell; his vision was blurry and he couldn’t concentrate at all. Maybe the guy was drugged, probably. Before the guy could do anything else, the tall figure grabbed a hammer and Alec blacked out.

It took Alec a few moments to realise that the vision was finally over. He was now sitting on the ground, breathing fast and he felt like throwing up, Jace leaning over to him, asking him if he was okay. Alec freaked out the whole team in the room, except for Simon, because he knew what the other had just gone through; a vision. Visions were rare to occur for Simon, but every now and then, he’d get to experience them. As Alec was still shaking and looking around to find that previous ghost, Jace grabbed him by his shoulder and gently shook him.

“Alec, man, can you hear me?” whispered Jace, worry written all over his face and Alec only nodded, still too shaken up from the previous vision to function properly. Luckily, Simon was next to him in a second and gave him a sympathetic look.

“A vision?” whispered Simon and Alec nodded. “What did you see?”

“Yes,” breathed out Alec and placed his shaky hands together in his lap. He needed a few moments to collect himself and all of the colour drained from his face when he saw the same ghost standing there again. It disappeared and then reappeared at the end of the hallway, creeping the hell out of Alec. It was moving so different from the ghosts he usually encountered. Usually they looked almost human, but this one was moving fast and Alec felt sick again when the ghost started vigorously shaking his head, screaming out. This time, Simon could hear him as well and sent Alec a questioning look, because that most certainly wasn’t a sound of a woman. “There’s another victim,” whispered Alec and slowly got onto his legs.

“What?” asked Jace and shook his head. “We’ve searched the entire house, there-”

“There is,” stammered Alec and suddenly felt angry; he hadn’t felt so angry in a long time. They weren’t his emotions thought and he knew that; he was experiencing the spirit’s emotions and he grabbed his chest.

“He’s right,” said Simon. “There was too much blood in the hallway for there to be only one victim,” he then said and then followed Alec, who was now walking down the hallway.

As Alec was walking towards the ghost, he felt his knees buckling and he had to take in a deep breath as he felt a sharp pain in his head as he was standing very close to the spirit, who suddenly disappeared, but then re-appeared outside the house, Alec seeing him through the window. As Alec was walking, Jace followed him, Simon by their side as well, gasping when he suddenly felt the headache as well, grabbing his head and he made his way out of the house, Alec looking around, to see where the hell was he supposed to go.

“Where to now?” asked the blond one and Alec shrugged, because the spirit was nowhere to be seen. Or so he thought, until he saw him standing across the street and Alec’s breath shook as he pointed across the street.

“There,” whispered Alec, Jace groaning, but then he nodded and followed his partner.

The ghost kept leading them down the lane, until they reached a house that looked very abandoned and Alec felt shivers running up his spine, because he had a bad feeling about it. Then just like that, the ghost stopped, dropped his head forward and creepily slowly raised his hand forward and pointed to a shed behind that house. It had to be one of the creepiest things that Alec had witnessed in his life and he thanked that Jace and Simon were there with him.

“He’s pointing to that shed,” stammered Alec and Simon shuddered.

“Great,” said Jace and then started looking around the place. He walked up to the door and knocked onto the door, ringing the doorbell as well, but wasn’t very hopeful that he was going to get an actual response. The place looked very abandoned and from the shape of the house’s backyard, one could easily tell that no one was living in the house for a long time. A perfect place to hide a body. “I’ll go open the shed,” announced Jace then, Alec nodding as he felt weak again, cursing the ghost. As soon as Jace opened the shed, he quickly stepped back and then looked around his shoulder, nodding. There indeed was one more victim in their case and Simon sighed as Alec finally was able to breathe properly, the ghost disappearing for good that time.

* * *

At the end of the day, Jace and Alec went to a bar to get a couple of drinks, because both of them needed them. It was the end of a long and tiresome day; Alec needed to put his mind at peace at least for a couple of hours. As time went on, they were able to identify the two victims found that day; brother and a sister, both of them murdered in the sister’s house. Alec cursed, because he couldn’t see the murderer’s face properly in his vision. Just like he expected, the guy was sedated with something, so that was why everything seemed so blurry in the vision. However, the only thing that Alec knew was that the murderer was a man, quite tall and was somehow connected to the sister; she was clearly comfortable enough with him, laughing and giggling before the murder took place.

As Alec was completely lost in his thoughts, Jace went to the bar and ordered two drinks for them, bringing them to their table and Alec snapped up from his day dreaming when Alec placed the glass in front of him. Alec thanked the blond one and gave him a weak smile, taking the glass into his hands. While Jace quickly emptied the drink, Alec didn’t. Instead, he was spinning the full glass in his hands and was watching the liquid dancing around the glass, sighing when he placed the drink back onto the table and then glanced over at Jace, who was now texting someone. As he lifted his gaze up as well, he gave Alec a little smile.

“Izzy and Maia are coming to join us,” announced Jace and Alec only nodded, but said nothing. Hanging out with Maia was always fun, so maybe if he was in her company he would be able to put his mind at ease somehow. Jace then stayed quiet and then placed a hand on top of Alec’s shoulder. “You okay?” he then asked and Alec only shrugged.

To be honest, Alec didn’t know how he felt. He felt restless and nervous, but at the same time, deep inside, he felt completely empty. And he was tired, it was as if all energy was sucked out of him. For the lack of energy he blamed the ghost from before. Up until then, he never came in contact with such an angry and aggressive ghost, the feeling of anger from before scaring Alec himself. The ghost was out to get revenge and Alec felt that he would be easily capable of killing someone if he got the chance. With that on his mind, he quickly shook his head and he cleared his throat when Jace shook his shoulder again.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” stammered Alec and gave Jace a little smile. “It’s just that spirit from before… he got into my mind and now I can’t experiencing his feelings. That anger and lust for revenge, it’s freaking terrifying,” said Alec and sighed, bowing his head down, biting onto his lower lip as he rubbed his palms together.

“You’re sure that this is the only thing bothering you?”

“No,” whispered Alec, because that wasn’t true. A part of his current mood was of course the absence of Magnus. The weeks without Magnus was hell, but Alec tried his best not to think about it. Filling his free time with random things, or working on the cases even after he finished work at the station was how Alec managed to keep himself busy without driving himself mad about thinking of Magnus. However, he was planning on going to see him in the next few days, Camille knowing about his visit or not, he couldn’t go on like this forever. Maybe if he was there, Magnus would be able to wake up sooner. Alec still refused to believe that the tears last time were just a coincidence or irritation of the eyes. It had to be because he could hear him. That was the only thing keeping Alec sane at the moment.

“Why don’t you go see him?” asked Jace softly and Alec shrugged, sighing.

“Maia said that Camille had heard about my visits to Magnus and she isn’t too fond of me,” stammered Alec, shrugging. “I don’t want to mess something up, for all I know, she can easily transfer him into another hospital and then good luck to me with finding him again,” he then added, swallowing thickly. “But I will probably go see him tomorrow,” added the detective then and gave his partner a sad smile. “It’s been a week and I miss him,” he then whispered, bowing his head down, his fingers going around the glass of whiskey, gripping it tightly.

“Do you want me to come with you?” asked Jace, offering his help and Alec only shrugged, not knowing how to respond. Jace took that as a sign to not push it too much. “Well, if you want my company there, you can always tell me. I’m not doing anything special tomorrow,” said Jace and pressed his lips together. “Keep your chin up, young man. Everything will be okay in the end,” he then said playfully and Alec had to chuckle at Jace’s comment; that was something that his mother used to say.

“Are you quoting my mom now?” asked Alec and rolled his eyes, but the smile lingered on his lips and Jace was glad to see his friend smiling again, even though he knew that the smile was only temporary.

After fifteen more minutes or so, Isabelle and Maia finally joined them, both of them greeting them happily, Isabelle sitting next to Jace, while Maia went to Alec, the older one happily giving her a little hug as a greeting and then sat back down, Maia doing as well, the four of them engaging into a fun little chat. Alec had to admit it that he was having fun chatting with everyone, but he dreaded going back home alone into his empty apartment. He huffed under his breath and was slowly starting to grow grumpy again, annoyed to be sitting there. Again, he wished to be all alone and just as he was about to go into his full on grumpy self, Maia gently tapped onto his shoulder.

“Yeah?” asked Alec, who was caught off guard, not really paying attention to what was going on around him. Jace and Isabelle seemed to be deep in a conversation of their own, so Maia was trying to start up a conversation with him. “Sorry, I’m kind of out of it today. What were you saying?”

“Don’t worry about it, Jace told me that you’re dealing with some pretty gruesome and terrible case at the moment,” said Maia softly and gave him a little shrug. “No need to talk about it if you don’t wanna,” she then quickly said, because Alec looked uncomfortable when she mentioned the case and she quickly tried to change to topic of their conversation, something on her mind as well, needing to tell Alec something urgently, but she didn’t know how to start. “To be honest, I have something to tell you,” said Maia quietly and Alec looked at her.

“Oh, yeah?” asked Alec. “Like what?”

“It’s, um, about Magnus,” started Maia and Alec visibly froze, the girl taking a few moments before she continued. “Well, not exactly about him. More about Camille to be honest,” she went on and Alec felt chills running up his spine when Camille was mentioned. What was it now? Did she move Magnus to another hospital? Alec tried not to panic too soon, but that was kind of impossible, because Maia looked very serious and the detective knew that it didn’t mean anything good. “Well, she knows that the two of us know each other and, um, today she told me that she has a message for you.”

Great, just great, thought Alec and tried his best to stay cool. “What kind of a message?” asked Alec carefully and Maia took a few moments of silence, but then finally started speaking again.

“She wants to meet up with you,” said Maia and looked up at Alec. “She says she wants to talk to you about something serious,” said the younger one and Alec pressed his lips together, forming a thin line. His entire body was tensed up and he cursed mentally.

“Talk about what?”

“She didn’t say. But it’s safe to assume that it’s about Magnus,” said Maia, knowing about Alec’s visits to Magnus and Alec only nodded, because that was true. “She looked very nervous. Well, she constantly is these days. And there’s this man… constantly over at her office. I try my best to mind my own business, but I happened to overhear their conversation a few times now and it’s always revolving around you and Magnus.”

“Me and Magnus?” asked Alec, who had no idea why in the world would Camille be talking to this man about him. Maybe he was some kind of a cop or detective investigating him? It would be possible, but then again, Alec was careful about people spying on him. He was experienced enough and usually spotted someone if they were trying to spy on him. Then again, maybe he was some kind of a special expert. “Why in the world-”

“I don’t know,” said Maia and shrugged. “But it was pretty obvious that Camille didn’t want anyone knowing that he was there,” she said and pressed her lips together. “Now that I think about it, it was really bizarre,” she said in the end and Alec sighed, leaning back in his chair. Less and less things were starting to make sense and he felt another headache coming up.

“Well, they can have their secrets,” said Alec and narrowed his eyes, letting go of that for the time being, but didn’t allow himself to completely forget about Camille talking to some man about him. “When does she wanna meet up?” asked Alec then and Maia shrugged.

“She didn’t say,” said Maia and Alec groaned. “She said to call her, so that the two of you can talk about when to meet and other stuff,” said Maia and Alec buried his face into his palms and shook his head. Great. “I’m so sorry,” said Maia then, understanding all too well how Alec must’ve felt. Camille was one of the most disliked people she knew, so setting up a private meeting with her – again – was nothing to be looking forward to.

“Thank you,” said Alec slowly and slowly looked up at Maia. “For everything,” he then quickly added and Maia just gave him a small smile, nodding and Alec forced a little smile as well, which disappeared as soon as Isabelle called out Maia’s name. As Maia turned to her girlfriend, Alec’s smile disappeared and all that was left was a frown and more dark thoughts on his mind.

For the entire evening, Alec kept to himself and the others left him alone, because it looked like he needed some time for himself to think about everything and get his thoughts in order. Alec didn’t look forward of calling Camille and doubted that he’d actually go through it. Talking to Camille in private wasn’t going to bring any changes to how things were. Though he was kind of afraid that Camille might had planned to move Magnus into another hospital. Either way, the meeting wasn’t going to happen.

Even though Alec convinced himself that he wasn’t going to go see Camille, worry still lingered around and when he came home, Alec went to the empty bed, bringing a sweater that Magnus designed, which Isabelle got especially for him a few days ago, along and he squeezed it closely to his heart and closed his eyes. It was the only thing that he got that was Magnus’ and at the moment that was the only thing that made it feel as if Magnus was there next to him, falling into restless sleep after a few hours.


	18. Chapter 18

The next day, Alec finally decided to pay Magnus another visit. He ignored Camille's wish to meet up and as he was coming closer to the hospital, he felt a lot less gloomy. Even though Magnus was not awake, just seeing his peaceful face was enough for Alec and a little smile spread across his face as he sighed, squeezing a small rose in his hand. It was a little gift he brought for Magnus; a little rose representing his love for him. He felt his face heating up and bit into his lower lip, thinking that Magnus would probably like little gifts like that if he was awake. His chest swell with a bittersweet feeling when he finally found himself at the hospital, slowly stepping in and then made his way up the stairs, all of the staff too busy to actually notice him again.

During the past week that he didn't go to Magnus, he kept in contact with Catarina and she made sure to call him every day to tell him how things with Magnus were. However, there wasn't much to say, Magnus was still unresponsive as ever, but at the same time, Alec felt at ease to have someone that was close to Magnus in that hospital. At least he wasn't really completely alone in a place like that. Now, Alec kept holding himself back from visiting Magnus because of Camille, but at the end of the day, he didn’t care for her anymore. There was still a little bit of fear at the back of his mind that she might make the hospital transfer Magnus to some other place, but he knew that he would be able to find him again. He was able to do it once, so he didn’t doubt in chances of finding him again. Faith brought them together, twice, so Alec started to be a bit more optimistic about everything.

When he was standing in front of Magnus’ room, he looked down at the little flower and smiled again, before he slowly opened the door and stepped inside of the room. He turned around to face Magnus with a little smile on his face, but it was wiped away as soon as he saw that there was another person present in the room. And this time it wasn’t a doctor; it was a young woman, dressed in a violet little dress, high heels on and with a perfect hairdo and makeup. Camille. Alec felt his heart dropping, because he really wasn’t in the mood to be dealing with her. He just wanted a few minutes with Magnus, but now that probably wasn’t going to happen.

Alec looked at the flower and cursed mentally, because now he couldn’t lie to Camille that he was there visiting Magnus only as a friend. The detective gritted his teeth and then finally decided to go the hell with it; he wasn’t going allow someone like Camille to chase him out. He was there to see Magnus. Period. With that on his mind, he turned around and painfully slowly walked to the bed, Camille finally turning around properly and her eyes narrowed when she saw who stepped into the room, lips squeezing into a thin line and it was obvious that she was tense. She somehow looked nervous, but then again, so was Alec.

“You!” said Camille and pointed to Alec, got onto her legs, releasing Magnus’ hand and then moved a bit closer to Alec. “What the hell are you doing here?” she snapped and Alec rolled his eyes, which seemed to piss her off even more. “You’re not allowed to be here,” she then said and folded her arms on top of her chest, tapping with one foot impatiently against the floor as she waited for an explanation.

“Hello to you too, Miss Belcourt. It’s a pleasure to see you again,” said Alec as he struggled to stay polite, but made sure that sarcasm was very obvious in his voice. He narrowed his eyes and then looked over at Magnus, his facial expression softening up immediately, but then he sighed again when he looked at Camille again. “I believe we’re here with the same reason; to visit Magnus?” he said and as he was about to walk closer to the bed, Camille stepped in front of him and blocked him the way to the bed.

“How did you find out where he is?” asked Camille, not getting it how the word got out; she was so, so careful. She paid enough money to all of the staff to keep their mouths shut.

“Well,” said Alec and groaned, because Camille still wouldn’t move out of his way. “I’m a detective, remember? This is what I do, detect things. Finding people is my speciality,” he then said with a smug face and tried to smile too widely, because there was just something so satisfying in watching Camille’s face getting red with anger.

“But,” stammered Camille and before she could do or say anything else, Alec took that as a opportunity to walk around Camille and his smile got wider again when he was next to Camille, placing the rose onto the night stand, trying to not attract an unwanted attention to it. He then bit into his lower lip as his eyes found Magnus, travelling down, widening when he saw that the ring he had given to Magnus was gone. However, there was a new one resting on his finger and his heart sped up, because by the looks of it had to be a lot more expensive and luxurious than the thing he had given to Magnus. Alec felt his blood boil with anger, because he knew that Camille had to take his ring off; that was the only explanation.

“Where’s the ring?” asked Alec stubbornly and turned around, Camille’s lips now widening with smile and she shrugged.

“Oh, that cheap thing he had been wearing?” asked Camille and shrugged. “I threw it away, Magnus would be horrified if he saw that he was wearing that ugly thing,” she then said and Alec clenched his fists, trying to stay calm. Alec wasn’t violent by nature, but Camille was really pushing his buttons and he had to take in a deep breath in order to calm himself.

“Give it back, I gave it to Magnus,” said Alec.

“Why?” asked Camille. “Why did you give it to Magnus? Why did you bring him flowers? Why do you keep visiting him?” she went on by asking, because nothing made sense. “Magnus doesn’t know you, why are you so obsessed with him?!” asked Camille again, her voice louder.

“Magnus _knows_ me!”

“Oh, yeah? From where?” asked Camille. “We used to live together, I _know_ Magnus’ friends and you weren’t one of them,” she said. “Plus this behaviour is beyond creepy… the ring, flowers… Did you make up some kind of a fantasy that you two were together?! Because from what concerns me, you are just a detective who was working on the accident that occurred on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

“Don’t-”

“You’re really fucked in the head, you know that right?” asked Camille and shook her head. “I did a bit of digging myself as well and found out quite some interesting things. Your last relationship didn’t work out too well, did it?” she asked and all of the colour was drained from Alec’s face. “So this, your obsession with _my_ fiancé, has to be some kind of a sick way of you coping with your breakup. You created this illusion that Magnus knew you. But let me tell you that-”

“Shut the hell up,” said Alec, who had it enough. “You know nothing about me and Magnus,” stammered Alec and then bit his tongue, because he knew that he had already crossed the line. It was true what Camille said to some point, Magnus didn’t technically koew him before the accident, so of course Camille could say that without Alec having a proof to show her otherwise. But just hearing those disgusting words falling out of Camille’s mouth made him so angry.

“You’re right, because there’s _nothing_ to know,” said Camille and a satisfied grin spread across her face. To her, it was satisfying to know that she had such a power over Alec; it was fun playing around with the detective. “You’re no one to Magnus,” she then said and narrowed her eyes, Alec gripping the bed tightly and he closed his eyes. “I’m the one he needs.”

“Oh trust me, you’re the last person he wants,” whispered Alec, but Camille heard him and said something under his breath, which Alec couldn’t really make out what it was. After that, Alec spent a few moments in silence turned away from Camille, so that he could get a hold of his emotions, taking in a deep breath as he turned around. “Now then,” he started. “Can you please leave?” said Alec and then crossed his arms on top of his chest and frowned because Camille just kept staring at him.

“You seriously think I’ll leave you alone with him?” asked Camille and shook her head. “My family owns this hospital, so it’s my rules in here, _detective,_ ” said the woman and then a little smirk spread across her face when he remembered something else and she went to the chair to pick up her purse. “However,” started Camille. “I guess I can take pity on you and allow you to stay this once. It’s not like you’d be able to visit him again after tomorrow,” she then said and with enjoyment in her eyes watched Alec’s eyes widen in surprise.

“What do you mean?” stammered Alec and swallowed thickly.

“Oh, you didn’t hear?” asked Camille as her grin grew wide. “He’s gonna be transferred to another hospital. Far, far away from New York and most importantly, you,” said Camille and Alec felt his stomach dropping. He knew that she was doing that on purpose; she was evil because she wanted to hurt him and he couldn’t understand it. For the love of God, he couldn’t understand why Camille wanted him away from Magnus. It’s not like they knew each other.

“You can’t do that!” stated Alec, but knew that Camille had every right to do so.

“Of course I can. Watch me. My hospital, my rules,” said Camille with a devious smirk on her lips and started slowly walking to the door. “There isn’t a law that forbids me from doing so. _I’m_ also listed as Magnus’ emergency contact, I’m the one who he _chose_ to be there in a need of a crisis.”

“But-”

“Bye, bye, detective,” said Camille as she opened the door before Alec could say anything and stepped out of the door, closed it and Alec just stood there, completely dumbfounded, blinking a few times. When he finally realised that Camille was really gone, he bowed his head down and anger flushed over him again, kicking into the wall hard, swearing and then he clenched his jaw.

What hurt the most was that Camille was right; she could do as she pleased if Magnus chose her to be his representative in a need of an emergency. But still, that being the case or not, he wasn’t going to back down so easily. Even if Magnus was supposed to be transferred into another hospital, Alec wasn’t going anywhere. He would have to be removed manually if someone wanted to take Magnus away from him. He knew that he was going against everything he believe in – disrespecting the law – but he didn’t care. He came so far and he wasn’t going to back away. Magnus was finally within his reach and he didn’t care what Camille claimed, he was there to stay.

With that on his mind, Alec turned around and went back to Magnus, sitting down next to him, frowning when he saw Camille’s ring resting on Magnus’ finger and he quickly removed it. He then opened one of the drawers of Magnus’ night stand and saw his ring thrown in there. His anger towards Camille faded a little bit; at least she wasn’t that stone-hearted to actually throw the ring away. He then took it out of the drawer and flipped it back onto Magnus’ finger, a little smile spreading across his face.

“There much better,” he said to himself and then nodded, taking the rose into his hands and smiled when he saw it. “I, um, brought you a little gift. A flower,” explained Alec in case Magnus was in there listening to him and scratched the back of his head. “It’s a red rose. Kind of cheesy, I know, but I think you’d like it,” he then added and turned to the night stand, smiling when he saw an empty vase, getting up to fill it with water in the sink at the end of the room and he then placed the flower into it, proudly looking over at Magnus. “There, I put it into water. So that it lasts longer,” he then said, saying nonsense, but he needed to be talking about something if he didn’t want to drive himself crazy about the possibility of Camille really transferring Magnus to another hospital. Who knew, maybe she was just messing with his head?

“I ran into Camille before… well, she was in here with you before I showed up,” said Alec as he sat back down and then shook his head. “Man, she’s a bitch,” he said. “Like, no offence, but she is,” he then added and chuckled a bit, but then stopped laughing and nervously chewed on his lower lip. “She said that you’ll be transferred to another hospital tomorrow,” said Alec painfully slowly and his eyes widened when he noticed Magnus’ heartbeat fastening on the monitor.

Alec kept looking at the monitor for a few more moments and then it hit him that Magnus really was in there, listening to him. He wasn’t going listen to what the doctors said anymore; he was going to go with what his heart was telling him. And it was practically yelling at him, begging him to believe in that. It wasn’t a coincidence anymore, there were far too many things that proved Catarina otherwise. With that on his mind, Alec quickly knew that he needed to make Magnus feel at ease.

“Hey, hey, don’t panic. I’m here and I’ll be here until tomorrow if I have to be. There’s no way that I’m going to allow to take them away from me,” said Alec as he was again holding Magnus’ hand, gripping onto it, bringing it up to his lips and he pressed a few kisses against it. “There’s no way I’ll allow them to do that, I finally found you. I’m not letting go off you that easily,” he then said and forced a little smile. “I just… I need you to wake up. I know you’re trying, but, I’m getting impatient,” stammered Alec and shrugged. “Maybe it’s a good sign that your spirit isn’t wandering around anymore,” he added.

Magnus, whose heart was breaking when he heard all of that, was desperate to free himself, but unlike the previous times, he couldn’t break free from that darkness. It was like he was chained to that place and no matter how much he struggled to move, he couldn’t. Also, he felt pain again, everything hurt and he didn’t know what was up with that. But all of that disappeared into thin air when he heard Alec talking to him and he could only focus on the only ray of sunshine in that terrible place; Alec’s voice. When he heard Alec telling him that Camille was planning to move him into another hospital, he was terrified and he just wanted to break free, but yet, his body still wouldn’t move and he mentally cursed.

Magnus didn’t know how long he had been laying there for; he had completely lost all concept of time, but he knew that he had been wandering around the darkness without Alec around for far too long. Alec hadn’t come to see him in a while now and Magnus was starting to fear that Alec had left and abandoned him. Or maybe something else, or someone, was trying to make him stay away. However, now that he was there again, Magnus was overjoyed and if he could, he would cry out loud with happiness. He felt at ease when Alec told him that he was going to stay there with him and protect him. Magnus felt safe when he heard those words and even though he didn’t fully believe Alec could prevent on his own something like that from happening, Magnus still felt safer.

“Sorry for not visiting you in a while,” stammered Alec then, as if he was reading what was on Magnus’ mind. “It’s been almost a week since my last visit,” he confessed and looked down, shrugging. “Maia told me that she had overheard Camille talking about me and you and well, I was terrified that I might do something stupid by visiting you sooner. Apparently, she wanted to have a private talk with me, but I passed that opportunity,” said Alec then.

 _That’s okay. I’m sorry for ever doubting you_ , thought Magnus to himself and felt a stab of guilt at his heart for ever thinking Alec would actually leave him like that. Alexander wasn’t a cruel person, he had to be the kindest soul out there, despite his grumpy personality. Magnus’ body heated up when he felt Alec holding his hand again and he wished he could smile when he felt a pair of lips travelling all around his face. Honestly, he didn’t expect Alec to be so affectionate.

“You better wake up and return all of these kisses. They’re not free, you know?” teased Alec, trying to mask his trembling voice, but one could easily tell that his tone was thick with desperation and sadness. “I want to hear it again,” whispered the detective then. “You saying you love me,” he then added and sat there next to Magnus in silence, while the other one was again in panic to wake up, but all of his efforts didn’t help.

Alec spent the entire day at the hospital, not getting out of Magnus’ room for even a second. Magnus, at the same time, was overjoyed to have Alec over for such a long time; his last visit was far too short for his liking. As they day went on, Alec kept talking about random things, telling Magnus more about himself and hoped that he could hear him. Even though Magnus didn’t respond, he heard most of it and if he was awake, he would be smiling widely, because Alec was beyond funny and adorable.

In the meantime, Catarina came in a few times to check up on Magnus, Alec getting a perfect chance to ask her if Camille really was planning on transferring Magnus into another hospital. With a heavy heart, Catarina let him know that that was really happening and that it was going to happen quite early in the morning of the next day. Alec felt his anxiety rising, but he didn’t allow himself to crumble apart so easily; he needed to be strong and show Camille that he wasn’t backing down so easily. As he asked Catarina if he could spend the night there, the other let him know that it was against the rules, but allowed him to do so. For all she cared, the rules could be broken. If Camille could break them, then so could the others. Besides, she was so fed up with everything, planning on quitting her job as soon as possible, because she was done putting up with Camille’s shit.

Alec thanked Magnus’ friend and kept chatting with her when she got some free time and he managed to learn quite a few new things about Magnus. For example, Magnus got quite some money because of his genius designs. However, he didn’t keep the money to himself; he was pretty generous and gave away most of it to charity organisation that helped children in need. Alec understood that very well; Magnus’ childhood was horrible so of course he wanted to make other children’s lives as easy as possible. As Alec kept listening to things like that, his heart warmed up even more and he just then realised what a beautiful person Magnus was; inside and out. He might appear flirty and not serious at first, but he had so many layers to him. Just like Magnus once said to him; he was an onion with many layers and Alec kept smirking when he remembered that moment.

At some point Catarina had to leave and it was getting pretty late into the evening, Alec bringing his chair closer to Magnus’ bed and yawned, covering his mouth with his hands. By then, Magnus was already soundly asleep, no longer listening to Alec, but still felt safer as ever. As Alec kept observing the other one, he was holding his hand for the entire time, his eyes getting heavy as was his head, slowly falling forwards and Alec had to force himself to stay up.

But as some point, the exhaustion got the best of Alec and he fell asleep right there in the chair, his hand still holding Magnus’. Catarina came back to the room to check up on how Alec was doing, but a little smile spread across her face when he saw the scene in front of her eyes. She stepped out of the room, only to return back to it with a blanket in her arms and she carefully wrapped it around Alec and then quietly hurried back to the door, not wanting to wake him up.

“Good night, boys,” said Catarina with a smile and then switched off the lights before closing the door.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.
> 
> Don't hate me.

By the time Alec woke up, it was already morning and he groaned as he moved his head, his neck killing him because he slept in such an awkward position, yawning widely and he rubbed his tired eyes, frowning then when he saw that he was wrapped in a blanket. While he didn't remember getting one, he came to a rational conclusion that Catarina was probably the one who gave it to him. Alec yawned again and then his eyes travelled to Magnus and he chuckled a bit, leaning down next to him, giving his forehead a good morning kiss, content with himself as he pulled back up and when he looked at his phone for the time, he saw that it was still pretty early in the morning.

“Good morning, Magnus,” said Alec and got up onto his legs, extending his arms out, walking in circles around the room a few times, just so that he woke up a little bit. After getting out of the room to use the toilet and getting himself some coffee at the coffee machine, he walked back into the room in complete silence and he sat back down next to Magnus, not really knowing what to do with himself. Camille didn’t say what time Magnus was supposed to be transferred, but Catarina told him that it was supposed to happen pretty early into the day, chewing on his lower lip nervously, because he expected Camille to barge in the room at any time.

“Magnus, my neck hurts,” whined Alec after a little while, needing to say something because waiting for Camille was slowly driving him insane. It was like she _knew_ what she was doing to him and Alec wished that he could somehow return the favour of driving her insane. But then he realised that he probably already had, if not, she wouldn’t be transferring Magnus to some other place. But he still didn’t get it; why would she mind his presence so much in there? Sure, they didn’t need to like each other, but to go to such lengths to hurt him? Alec then shook his head and looked back at Magnus. “You better give me a proper massage when you wake up,” teased Alec then and then took a sip of his coffee, his energy slowly returning and by the time he finished his cup of coffee, he felt as good as new, prepared to take on whatever the day was going to bring along.

The next hour passed calmly and in silence; Alec texting Jace and Izzy, telling them he was at the hospital and he made sure that both of them knew about what was going on. Both of them wanted to come along with him to make sure he was going to be okay, but after letting them know that he had things under control, they finally decided to stop being so overprotective and wished Alec the best, Alec knowing that he was going to need all of the good luck that he was going to get. In the meantime, Magnus was feeling quite content with himself as well; with Alec by side he almost forgot about the threats Camille made the previous day, happily listening to Alec’s rumbling when he decided to start sharing some more things about himself.

But the peaceful morning didn’t last long, because suddenly the door opened and Alec was literally catapulted onto his legs when he saw Camille stepping inside of the room and his stomach dropped, because now he knew that it was finally happening, his worst fears were slowly starting to come true and even though earlier he felt invincible, he wasn’t so sure that he did anymore. Camille looked quite surprised to see him in there and she rolled her eyes, groaning when he noticed that the detective was still there, hunched over Magnus’ bed, but a smile reappeared on her face, because she noticed that someone looked quite nervous and scared. It felt amazing having such a power over someone, especially over someone like Alec. He might had looked tough, but Camille knew that he was able to crumble apart if one pushed the right buttons, just like Chris had told her and she knew that that was a vital piece of information to make her morning even that more enjoyable.

“You’re still here, detective,” stated Camille, her voice calm, but it was cold and the tension in the room was so thick that one could easily cut it with a knife. Alec only shrugged as a response and quickly grabbed Magnus’ hand, his eyes widening when he saw on the monitor that Magnus’ heartbeat was racing and he couldn’t lie; so was his. “I hope you said your goodbyes.”

“Why are you doing this?” whispered Alec and cursed for looking so weak in front of Camille. “Magnus can easily stay here, it’s not good for him to be transferred in this state,” he then said when he remembered what Catarina said the previous night. “It’s best if you don’t move him too much, because the harm to his head and spine is still pretty much unknown and-”

“Oh, _please,_ ” said Camille and rolled her eyes. “You’re a doctor now too? He’s in a coma if you haven’t noticed. He won’t even know that it’s happening. Besides, this hospital only has the best of the best, so they know what they’re doing,” said the woman and Alec pressed her lips together, because he couldn’t see an ounce of worry for Magnus written on her face. This wasn’t about Magnus, this was about her, was what Alec understood then. It was about having it her way, it wasn’t important what happened to Magnus.

“You don’t care what’s best for him,” said Alec and narrowed his eyes. “This is about you and having it your way,” added the detective then and folded his arms on top of his chest. “If you truly cared about him, you wouldn’t be in such a hurry to move him,” he said. “I don’t even get it, why do you want to move him? It’s not like I did something wrong by visiting him.”

“Because Magnus’ mine,” blurted out Camille and Alec’s eyes widened when he heard that coming out of her mouth. He thought that she knew how wrong it was what she just said, but she didn’t care, because it her opinion, she was right. “ _I’m_ the one who made him who he is today. His career kicked off because of _me_. If he hadn’t met me, he would still be nobody,” she then added with anger in her voice and Alec’s jaw dropped, because in all honesty, he wasn’t expecting that even from her. “And I do care about him,” she then said.

“It’s him you care about him or his money?” suddenly snapped Alec, because he knew the real truth for Camille sticking around Magnus. “Oh yeah, I know all about your little plan,” said Alec then and a little smirk spread across his face. “Marry him and then divorce him, right? But now that things didn’t go according your plan, you still wait for him to wake up in a hope to use him even more. Isn’t that correct?” he asked, his heart now beating much faster, because he himself had been put through the same with Chris. Not many people knew it, but Alec’s family was pretty wealthy. Robert and Maryse owned top hotels in New York and even though Alec didn’t like associating with them, many people became really interested in him when he told them who his family was. And seeing that Magnus’ case had the same pattern pissed Alec off so much. People like Camille and Chris were the worst; scamming people in the worst way possible, playing with their feelings only for money.

“How can you say that?” asked Camille and shook her head. “I love Magnus.”

“You’re not fooling anyone,” said Alec and arched an eyebrow. “I almost married a liar myself, so I can recognise one when I see it,” he then added and Camille looked pretty nervous when he mentioned that. The fact that Magnus once mentioned Camille cheating with someone called Chris completely escaped his memory, but the more he started to think about it, he knew that he should remember something important. However, before he could do that, Camille interrupted him by stepping towards Magnus’ bed.

“Anyway, your opinion isn’t valid,” she said and looked down at Magnus. “Everything’s ready for the transfer. The team is on its way up here too, so I suggest to say your goodbyes now, Mr. Lightwood,” said Camille and Alec felt chills running up his spine.

“Stay away from him,” said Alec and grabbed Camille by her wrist, pulling her roughly away from Magnus and she let out a whimper of discomfort as his grip around her wrist tightened.

“Ouch, you’re hurting me,” she then moaned out and Alec quickly let go of her wrist, stepped in front of the bed and then turned around to face Camille.

“Tell your team that they’ll have to deal with me first before they manage to get to Magnus,” said Alec and looked around to Magnus, whose heartbeat was now racing and Alec dropped his head, grabbing Magnus’ hand. “It’s okay, Magnus. Calm down, everything will be okay. I’m going to protect you,” he then said, but as the door opened and nurses stepped inside, Alec panicked, fear setting in and he had to remind himself how to breathe.

What happened the next was a complete blur to Alec. As a male nurse was about to move to Magnus, Alec pushed him away and let out a loud scream when the other guys grabbed him by his hands and started dragging him away from the bed, Alec trying to free himself by kicking around and just as he managed to free himself, there was a tight grip around his hand yet again, Camille probably calling for back up. As Alec was struggling to free himself, Magnus was panicking. He felt horrible and he was in a desperate need to move, even just a finger. But no matter how much he tried, he struggled and struggled, his heart beating even faster when he felt someone taking his hand, but it wasn’t Alec. It was Camille.

“No, stay away from him!” yelled out Alec at the top of his lungs and when they almost dragged him out of the room, he broke free and literally ran towards the bed, but didn’t get quite far, because someone was dragging him back again. As Magnus listened to screams and yells around him, he struggled to breathe, he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs, even with all of the machines helping him and with his heart speeding up like that, the machine that was tracking his vital signs, started going crazy, beeping uncontrollably. Alec’s eyes widened when he saw that and he knew that something was wrong, the machine shouldn’t be making that sound

And he was right, because the nurses also started panicking and quickly called out for a doctor. However, before the doctor could return, the quick beeping on the machine transformed into a one monotone and long beep. The line tracking Magnus’ heartbeat was completely straight and only then Alec realised what had just happened; Magnus had gotten into a cardiac arrest. No, no, no, this wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be true, it was just a terrible nightmare. Suddenly, hands let go off him and people started running around the room, Alec just standing there, watching everything happening in slow motion. He couldn’t hear the screams anymore, he could only hear the sound of his racing heart and his fast and shallow breathing, looking over at Camille, who opened her mouth and screamed something, but Alec couldn’t hear her.

People were yelling in the background, it was a complete chaos, but Alec was able to hear only parts of what they were saying. “He’s gone into a cardiac arrest, bring in the defibrillator,” said someone and Alec watched how someone ripped open Magnus’ shirt, pulled out the tubes out of his throat and started massaging his heart, in a desperate need to start it again, but the line on the monitor remained straight.

Alec moved to the side, knees buckling and he held onto the wall as he watched how they brought in a defibrillator and continued trying to bring Magnus to back to life. Alec felt completely numb and even though he knew he should feel pain and horror, he felt nothing. Absolutely nothing and he wanted to scream at himself. While he felt nothing, Camille was a sobbing mess and Alec realised it then; maybe she did care for Magnus after all. For the first time, he could see genuine concern and horror written all over her face. Magnus’ chest lifted when the metal came in contact with his skin and Alec felt sick when he heard the next thing: “He’s not responding, try again.”

“We can’t re-start his heart.”

“We can’t give up. Try again. He needs to wake up,” said a doctor, who stepped inside and Alec was surprised to see that it was Catarina. She looked composed and Alec placed a hand on top of his mouth as the doctors and nurses struggled for the next few minutes, which seemed like years to Alec.

Every time that the metal came in contact with Magnus’ chest, his chest moved and for a split second it looked like Magnus was alive and awake, but that was far away from the truth. Still in shock, Alec’s legs struggled to support the weight of his body and his stomach made a drop when he saw one of the nurses shaking her head. He honestly felt like throwing up and then just like that, everything came back to him. He could hear and feel again. Alec let out a gasp and the pain in his chest was unbearable when the reality started sinking in, his throat and eyes burning. He struggled to scream, but couldn’t do anything and that was when his knees finally gave up and he slowly slid onto the floor, his back pressed against the wall and he shook his head. No, this wasn’t happening.

“Save him,” screamed Camille in between her sobs. “For the love of God, bring him back,” yelled out Camille and then started screaming again when someone started dragging her out of the room.

“Miss Belcourt, we need to ask you to leave. You can’t-”

“Screw you!” said Camille and pushed him away. “Magnus, open your eyes. I’m begging you, come back. I… I can’t,” she then said and broke down completely, her loud screams and sobs filling the room, while Alec just sat there in disbelief and watched the doctors still trying to bring him back, but they had no luck. Magnus was still unresponsive and Catarina looked back at him, mouthing him _I’m so sorry,_ her eyes filled with pain and tears, Alec knowing what that meant all too well.

Alec shook his head. “No, no, no, no,” he started repeating like a mantra. “Please no, Catarina you have to save him, he can’t die. He can’t leave me,” sobbed Alec and grabbed his chest, not being able to breathe anymore. Tears were streaming down Catarina’s face as she turned around and instructed the others to try again, Alec’s vision getting blurry as tears welled up in his eyes, but he wouldn’t let them fall.

However, tears fell when he got that feeling again. The feeling of a ghost being present and with horror in his eyes started looking around, hoping and praying that it wasn’t Magnus. This was a hospital, so it could easily be someone else. But, luck wasn’t on his side. He sat there and watched how Magnus’ spirit left his body and that was when he completely lost it. “Magnus!” yelled out Alec and ghost turned to him, not getting what was going on. At first, Magnus was happy to see that he finally broke free from that horrible prison, but then he realised at what cost. He looked down and saw that he was floating on top of his body. “Please don’t… Magnus, you can’t be dead.”

“He’s not responding,” said one of the doctors and placed a hand on top of Catarina’s shoulder. “Cat, stop it, it’s over. I know he’s your friend, but-”

“No!” yelled out Catarina and sobbed as she tried massaging Magnus’ heart again, pressing tightly down onto his chest, without any success.

“Catarina-”

“No!” said Catarina and pushed one of the co-workers away as he was trying to stop her. “I can’t give up on him that easily. I can’t… he’s… no, please let me try again,” cried Catarina, her speech fast and she was breathing fast as she was trying to hold back the new tears from falling.

“He’s gone,” said one of the others. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Time of death… 10:34 am,” said a nurse and Alec shook his head.

When Alec heard that, he looked up at Magnus’ spirit and his lower lip started trembling. “Magnus,” said Alec and shook his head. “D-don’t leave me,” whispered Alec and buried his face into his palms. “Please wake up. Don’t be dead. Without you, I can’t… I need you. I love you,” he said and Magnus started looking around, floating above everyone and his heart broke when he saw Alec and Catarina. Heck, he even felt for Camille.

As Alec kept chanting for Magnus to come back, the spirit knew that he couldn’t give up that easily. He would hate himself if he would leave Alec like that. A part of him didn’t want to return back to that prison, but, at the same time, he couldn’t and didn’t want to leave Alec. He loved him far too much to do that to him. He didn’t want to be dead, he wanted a future with Alec by his side. He was looking forward to it before and he was prepared to fight for it. Because of that, Magnus went back to his body and laid on top of it, hoping that that would do something, but it didn’t. Desperate, he tried again and again. He was desperate to return back into his body.

Magnus kept trying again and again, but couldn’t succeed. It wasn’t until he heard Alec’s loud sobs, who couldn’t hold back anymore, that he found enough will power within him. Magnus gathered all of the energy that he could muster and with a great force flew back into his body and that time, he could feel that something was different. He struggled to breathe again and he took in a deep breath, Magnus’ back arching as he did so and he let out a loud gasp.

When Magnus suddenly let out a loud gasp and as his back arched, the nurse next to him literally jumped in shock, because she wasn't expecting that at all. No one was, just a few minutes ago Magnus was pronounced dead and now he was alive? It made no sense and as doctors looked at each other, Alec’s head snapped up and his eyes widened when he saw what was going on. His heart stopped beating for the second time and he was literally catapulted onto his legs when he heard the staff in the room saying that Magnus was alive. His entire body was shaking and he payed no attention to others that were telling him to stay back. They didn't matter and the detective blocked out all of his surroundings as he was making his way to the bed, no one really trying to stop him.

“What happened?” asked Camille and her tear-filled eyes found Catarina’s, who looked just as surprised as the others. Because Magnus was now unhooked from all of the machines, she couldn't see for sure that Magnus was back. Again, he laid completely lifeless and she bit into his lower lip.

“I-is he back?” stammered Catarina, one of her colleagues finally snapping out of his prior shock and touched Magnus’ neck, his eyes wide with shock when he felt a steady heartbeat.

“I can feel a pulse,” announced the man and Catarina placed a hand on top of her mouth to catch the sobs of happiness and relief, while Camille hugged her and cried hard into Catarina’s shoulder, the latter doing nothing to stop her.

Alec glanced at Magnus when he was close enough and tears streamed down his face when he saw that the other was breathing. Magnus came back, he did it for him. Only for him. As that realisation started setting in, Alec thanked the universe for giving them another chance. “Thank you for coming back to me,” whispered Alec and even though the doctors didn't want him too close, he ignored them and gently touched Magnus’ hand. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Magnus,” sobbed Alec and placed a hand on top of his mouth.

As he said that, Magnus’ eyebrow flinched and then a frown appeared between his eyebrows, his fingers twitching and in Alec's hand. Then a quiet groan escaped Magnus’ mouth and Alec tensed up. What was going on? Was Magnus waking up? Overjoyed, Alec leaned closer to the other and kissed his forehead. “Magnus, I'm here. Just listen to my voice and open your eyes. You can do it,” he said, encouraging Magnus to wake up. When Magnus groaned again, Alec laughed through his tears. It was working. “That's it. Slowly now. Magnus, you're doing so well.”

Magnus’ eyes felt heavy and he didn't know where he was. But he could hear someone calling for him, over and over again. After a few tries, he opened his eyes with all of strength his weak body gathered. His vision was blurry and couldn't really make out who was leaning over him. As Magnus opened his eyes, Alec felt his stomach making a flip and he swore he fell in love all over again when Magnus’ beautiful eyes found his. Magnus looked very uncollected, but Alec didn't care. All what mattered was that he finally woke up!

“You're awake. Finally,” cried Alec and kissed Magnus’ hand, his stomach dropping when Magnus opened his mouth.

“Who are you?” asked Magnus and Alec’s world collapsed all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter with angst, I promise!!


	20. Chapter 20

''Who are you?'' asked Magnus and Alec felt sick down to his stomach when he heard Magnus' question, unable to move and he stayed there completely frozen for what felt like hours, but it had to be just a few seconds. Alec glanced at Camille, who said nothing and just stayed there, but he could tell that she was kind of pleased with Magnus' question, because that just proved her point from before; that he was no one to Magnus. And if he couldn't remember him, then good luck to him proving everyone else that Magnus really knew him from somewhere.

“You don’t remember me?” asked Alec and bit into his lower lip to prevent it from trembling. His hand was still gripping Magnus’ and he then bowed his head down and when he looked up, he forced himself to smile, but his smile dropped soon after that. “It’s me, Alexander,” he then said and hoped that that would somehow recall any memories inside of Magnus’ head, because he was desperate. If Magnus wouldn’t recognise him, then Camille would have a good reason to throw him out and that was something that he couldn’t let happen.

Alec tried not to let himself get swept away by his emotions, but he couldn’t let new tears fall when the realisation that Magnus had forgotten him had started sinking. Also, he couldn’t believe that he was being so selfish. All that should matter was that Magnus was awake now and alive, not that he also remembered him! Just seeing Magnus awake should be enough and because of this, he cursed loudly and bowed his head down, shaking his head. Magnus said that he wouldn’t mind falling in love with him all over again, but Alec didn’t have the patience for that to happen again. He was worried, maybe Magnus forgot a lot and though that he was still in love with Camille. Alec’s heart felt heavy and he just shrugged, slowly letting go off Magnus’ hand and he gripped the bed instead of the hand.

Magnus was now just staring back up at him and Alec felt a sting in his eyes, because the expression on Magnus’ face was completely blank; nothing like the spirit used to look at him when they were supposed to be ‘together’. “I’m sorry,” whispered Alec and took in a deep breath, because he didn’t want to upset Magnus by making him think something was wrong. It wasn’t the other’s fault that he couldn’t remember him. Because of this, Alec quickly wiped away his tears and slowly pulled back, so that he wasn’t so close to Magnus and he puffed his cheeks. “Don’t worry if you don’t remember. Technically we never met anyway,” whispered Alec under his breath, so that Magnus was the only one who heard him and then a little, tired smile cracked Magnus’ blank expression.

Magnus needed a few moments before he managed to realise what was going on around him and at first, he really couldn’t recognise the man leaning over him. But, he knew that he should know him from before. The worry written all over his face and the pain mixed with the tears was enough to let Magnus know that he cared for him deeply. And then slowly, pieces of the puzzle started coming into place and after a few moments or so, he was able to recognise the person leaning over him, but was too tired to say something. So instead, he just smiled, hoping that that would somehow make Alec feel at ease. He was desperate to move his arms, to wrap them around Alec’s trembling body, but he couldn’t. The little strength that he had made it possible for him to only move his fingers, so he sighed and his heart twisted, because Alec didn’t register the smile on his face.

Worried that Alec might had left him, Magnus knew that he needed to say something. With the smile still written all over his face, he cleared his throat and opened his mouth. “Detective Grumpy,” forced Magnus out, his voice deep and raspy. “I remember you,” he then added and as soon as Alec heard those words, a wave of relief washed over him and he dropped his head down, his hair falling over his eyes, his whole body shaking as fresh tears started streaming down his face, placing a hand over his mouth to even out his breathing, but couldn’t and he just helplessly sobbed with happiness right there in front of everyone. He cared for no other, Magnus was the only one who mattered and he couldn’t hide away his true emotions when it came to the other.

“You remember me?” asked Alec in between his sobs and shook his head, wiping tears away, but that didn’t do much, because soon new ones were rolling down his face. “Oh thank God,” said Alec and finally dared to look at Magnus, who was now smiling and there was that same look of affection and love in his eyes. “Finally, finally,” started chanting Alec as he was smiling through his tears and he leaned back down to Magnus, carefully wrapping his arms around him and it was at that point that everything became overwhelming for Magnus as well and he let the tears fall as well, sobbing when he felt Alec’s strong arms going around him.

Magnus was desperate to return Alec the hug, but because he was too weak to move his arms, burying his face into the crook of Alec’s neck was again and he breathed in deeply, allowing Alec’s scent to fill him completely and he melted against that strong, yet gentle hug. He started laughing through his tears when he felt Alec kissing his way up, from his neck, up to his jaw and his heart melted when he felt a pair of lips brushing against his lips. It wasn’t really a kiss, just an innocent touch of their lips that didn’t last more than a split second, but it was enough to make Magnus feel more alive than ever and he cried hard into Alec’s shoulder when he hugged him again and started scattering little kisses all over his head. Alec kissed every inch of Magnus that was possible and as they pulled away for the second time, Alec started awkwardly chuckling when he looked around and saw that the room was still full of doctors and nurses. Up until then, Magnus didn’t really notice anyone except Alec and he wrinkled his nose when he saw Camille over Alec’s shoulder, but she was quickly forgotten when he felt Alec’s palm against his cheek.

The feeling was so surreal; he remembered Alec touching him like that when he was a spirit, but up until then, he couldn’t feel him properly. Now that he could, the feeling was so overwhelming and Alec chuckled when he saw more tears wetting Magnus’ cheeks. This time he made sure that he caught each of them, kissing them away and the two of them smiled when Alec pressed his forehead against Magnus’. “I love you,” whispered Alec and Magnus bit into his lower lip and forced himself to nod.

“’love you too, dear,” whispered Magnus and Alec’s heart started beating like crazy. Just as he was about to give Magnus a proper kiss, someone tapped him onto the shoulder and completely ruined their moment, pulling him out of their little world. Annoyed, Alec turned around, but then relaxed when he saw that it was Catarina who was standing there next to him.

“Alec, I know you want some time alone with him, but we need to check up on him,” said Catarina, trying to keep her emotions under control, but when she turned to Magnus, her eyes welled up and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “After we run a few tests on him, then you can have him all for yourself. What do you say?” she asked gently and even though Alec didn’t want to be separated from Magnus quite yet, he knew that it was for Magnus’ best interest if he backed away for a little while and allow the doctors to do their job.

“Yeah, of course,” said Alec softly and made a few steps back.

* * *

After a few hours of waiting for the doctors to do all of the needed tests on Magnus, Alec was finally informed that he was allowed to go and see him. Catarina let him know that everything appeared to be fine with Magnus; he was stable enough to be let alone and have some visitors over. They still didn’t know the extent of the damages to Magnus’ body, but currently, he couldn’t really move a lot. He could move his fingers, but apart from that, he couldn’t even move an inch. However, that could just be the exhaustion and loss of muscle mass over the period of months that he had spent in coma. Despite not being able to move his arms and legs, he could still feel them, so Catarina told Alec that that was a wonderful sign that he would be probably able to recover. Maybe not fully, but her prognosis was now a lot more positive than it used to be a week ago.

Alec slowly left the waiting room after that and made his way up to Magnus’ room, but didn’t step inside quite yet, because he could hear voices coming from in the inside. He quite quickly recognised the voice that was talking to Magnus; it was Camille and from what Alec could hear, the two of them weren’t having what one would call a warm conversation. Alec couldn’t properly hear what the two of them were talking about, but he could hear bits of conversation and from what he could make out, Camille was begging Magnus to listen to her and allow her stay, but Magnus was having none of that. He had told her several times to leave him alone, because he really wasn’t in the mood to be dealing with her. Not only that, but he wanted to spend time with someone else; Alec. And because Camille knew that was the case that upset her even more.

Suddenly, the door opened and a very upset Camille stormed out of the room, not even paying attention to Alec, who was standing right there next to the door. Alec ignored Camille for the time being and slowly opened the door again and with a deep breath slowly stuck his head inside of the room, but didn’t step completely inside, because he wanted to see if Magnus was in a mood to see him. After a visit from Camille, he wouldn’t be really surprised if Magnus wasn’t in mood to be having visitors over, but that couldn’t be further away from the truth. As soon as Magnus saw the door opening, he looked towards it and a little smirk spread across his face when he saw Alec sticking his head inside of the room. That was one of the most adorable things Magnus had witnessed so far, because the look Alec was wearing on his face was full of worry and love, mixed with a shy smile and he couldn’t help but to chuckle when he saw Alec waiting there obediently.

“Hey,” said Alec softly when he saw that he had Magnus’ full attention and his smile spread when he saw that Magnus looked in a cheerful mood. He opened the door wider, but didn’t dare to step inside quite yet and he placed his hands together in front of him. “Can I come in? I saw that Camille was just over, so I didn’t know if you’re in a mood to be having people over or-”

“Please come in, darling,” said Magnus, his voice sounding strained and Alec just had to wonder how much he had to be straining to be speaking with him. He didn’t want Magnus to suffer anymore, but still it felt so nice talking to him like that, when he was awake and not a spirit. “Don’t pay attention to Camille. I sorted it out with her and she shouldn’t bother us for a while now,” said Magnus as a satisfied smirk spread across his face and Alec just had to wonder what exactly he told her, but he wasn’t about to ask. He didn’t want to ruin their little moment. “Besides, you’re always welcome, so never hesitate to come see me,” added Magnus and yawned, Alec nodding and then finally stepped inside of the room, closing the door as he then slowly made his way to the bed, sitting down into his usual chair and bit into his lower lip, looking down for a little while, because he didn’t know what to say.

Magnus didn’t know what to say or ask either, but just having Alec sit there next to him felt a lot more relaxing and he immediately felt in a better mood. Camille really pissed him off before, saying that Alec was probably just using him and was whispering things into his ear when he was in a coma; that that had to be the reason why he knew Alec in the first place, since he didn’t know how to explain it to Camille from where he knew the detective. He couldn’t just tell her that he used to be a spirit and that he got to know Alec like that.

“So,” started Alec and cleared his throat. “How do you feel?” he asked and slowly moved closer to the bed with his chair, placing his hand on top of Magnus’ warm one and he felt his heart making a little skip as he looked up at Magnus’ face, which was beautiful as ever. It was true that Magnus looked exhausted, but even that didn’t take away from how stunning he looked.

“I feel tired,” admitted Magnus and yawned, but the smile didn’t drop one bit. “But, I’m happy at the same time. I’ve been dreaming of a moment like this,” he then quickly added, because he didn’t want Alec to think that he wanted to rest, because that couldn’t be further away from the truth.

“Yeah, I’m happy too,” whispered Alec with a little smile and then took Magnus’ hand into his own, linking their fingers together and Magnus gave him a little chuckle when Alec kept holding onto his hand with both of his hands. “But you’re not in pain anymore, are you? I mean earlier it looked like you were,” he stammered, worry written all over his face and Magnus only shook his head.

“No, I’m not in pain anymore,” said Magnus softly and grinned. “They gave me some painkillers, which is probably the reason why I’m feeling sleepy and dizzy now. But apart from that, I feel wonderful,” he said and yawned again, Alec’s smile growing wider now, because Magnus looked adorable like that. With his left hand, Alec gently cupped Magnus’ face and gently titled his head to the side a little bit, his eyes scanning Magnus’ face and his eyes stopped on Magnus’ full and plump lips, wanting to finally feel them against his own properly. They shared a few kisses when Magnus was still a ghost, but those didn’t count. Also, Alec managed to give Magnus something that looked like a kiss before, but it wasn’t a proper kiss.

“You’re gonna drill holes into my head if you continue staring at me like that, angel,” said Magnus playfully and Alec only then realised that he must’ve been staring at Magnus for too long and he bowed his head down in embarrassment, feeling the blush creeping up his face and he cleared his throat, Magnus laughing along when he saw his adorable reaction. “Well, I didn’t say you need to stop, I like the attention,” teased Magnus and Alec forced himself to look up, a shy smile spreading across his face and he swallowed thickly, his throat feeling incredibly dry when his eyes were fixed onto Magnus’ lips again.

“Can I kiss you?” said Alec, his voice deep and husky, Magnus’ eyes widening, but then his facial expression softened up and he smiled again.

“I thought you’d never ask,” said Magnus and Alec wasted no more time as he leaned down to Magnus.

Alec slowly leaned down to Magnus and placed a finger under his chin, lifting his gaze a little, blush dusting over his cheeks as he continued to stare down to Magnus’ beautiful eyes for a little while. His eyes were literally twinkling and Alec breathed out, making Magnus shudder when he felt Alec’s hot breath against his cheek, slowly closing eyes as he watched Alec closing in. The detective grinned again when he saw Magnus waiting for the kiss and then finally closed the remaining distance between them by pressing his lips on top of Magnus’.

Magnus’ eyebrows raised when he felt the touch of Alec’s lips against his own and he let out a hitched breath when Alec parted for a bit, only to press their lips together for the second time. Alec’s heart was beating with the speed of light when their lips touched for the second time and his breath shook when he felt Magnus moving his lips against his own. Alec smiled into their kiss and his whole body was literally on fire as he was still holding Magnus’ cheek and he applied a bit more pressure into their kiss, Magnus chuckling when he felt how eager Alec’s kisses were. Despite his exhaustion, Alec’s kisses were giving Magnus new power and he felt so alive and so warm. Alec’s kisses were soothing and were bringing him back to life, feeling his heart fasten as a little muffled groan left Alec’s mouth.

Kissing Magnus was wonderful; there weren’t any dramatic feelings flowing through Alec. They were just simple little kisses, filled with pure love and innocence, nothing beyond that. Yet, such simple and innocent things were able to make Alec feel so many things and he couldn’t help but to grin when he placed a hand on top of Magnus’ chest and felt how fast his heart was beating. They shared one more kiss, before Alec pulled back and his grin widened as he observed Magnus’ dazed expression underneath him.

“Your heart is beating so fast,” said Alec with a chuckle and kissed the tip of Magnus’ nose, the other one laughing along and he only bit into his lower lip.

“Can you blame me when I have such a hot boyfriend giving me wonderful kisses like that?” teased Magnus and let out another yawn, but didn’t let his eyes close for the time being. Instead, he just licked his lower lip and sighed happily. “Alexander,” whispered Magnus and Alec’s heart did a little jump when Magnus called him by his full name. “Kiss me again,” he whispered and Alec did exactly that, leaning down and connected their lips in a slow, but passionate kiss.

“I love you so much, Magnus,” said Alec and pressed his forehead against Magnus’.

“Same here, darling. Love you so, so much,” breathed out Magnus and inhaled deeply as Alec stayed close to him.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much, to all of you who read and support this fanfic ^^. Honestly, I couldn't do it without you guys, you're the best :)  
> I hope you're gonna enjoy this chapter as well. Please do share your opinion :D

Isabelle was nervously walking next to Alec and couldn't contain her excitement. Alec was taking his sister to the hospital where Magnus was staying in and the girl was beyond excited, because she was finally going to meet her idol. She had met him before, but had no idea that it was the same Magnus she idolised so much and now that it was finally happening again, she was shaking all over and kept glancing at Alec, who just kept smiling, because it was kind of funny to see Isabelle so excited over something like that.

It's been a bit over a week since Magnus woke up and finally, Alec agreed to take his friends and family to meet Magnus in person. While Jace currently didn't have time to go meet Magnus with the two of them, Isabelle made sure to make her plans open for that day, because she wouldn't want to miss meeting Magnus for nothing in the world. In the past week, Magnus' condition had gotten a bit better. He still couldn't move his legs, but the good thing was that he was slowly starting to regain some movement in his arms and was slowly in the path of recovery. Catarina was more and more optimistic as well and was saying that someday, Magnus might even walk again. It would take a lot of painful months of recovery, maybe even years, but this time she wasn't going to be as pessimistic as before.

There were times that Magnus was in a lot of pain, but despite that, he never lost hope no matter what. He didn’t care what would happen to him from that point on and honestly, he believed in the best outcome. The Universe had a plan for him and Alec; there was no other way around it. He and Alec were destined to spend the rest of their lives together; faith brought them together and even though Magnus wasn’t a very spiritual person, he couldn’t really be convinced other way. There was an upper power that made all of this happen. So many miracles had already happened that made Magnus believe that he and Alec were meant to be and no matter what kind of obstacles life would throw into their way, they would be able to overcome them. They’ve been through so much – both of them – and they deserved a happy ending.

Alec chuckled when they finally reached the hospital and Isabelle was now literally a bundle of joy, almost skipping to the door, Alec shaking his head and laughed as he hurried after his little sister. In that moment, he felt like a kid again. Well, at least Izzy made it feel that way and without saying anything, the two of them made their way to the front desk, signed their names to the visitor list and then made their way up to Magnus’ room. Alec was done hiding from Camille; he wanted her to know that he was present there and wasn’t going anywhere. What surprised him even more was the fact that Camille backed away a little and stopped bothering him and Magnus. It seemed that Magnus probably put her where she stood and maybe she finally realised that what she was going wasn’t a right thing to do. Who knew, but Alec wasn’t about to go asking what happened to Camille that made her back away so suddenly.

Izzy felt as if her heart was going to jump out of her chest as she followed Alec up the stairs and then followed him in silence to the hallway, her eyes widening when her older brother suddenly stopped walking and pointed to the room, which had the number 17 written on it. Isabelle stiffened when Alec told her that they finally reached the place and she took in a deep breath when Alec opened the door of the room, stepping inside first, Isabelle slowly following him, her heart beating like crazy. Alec just kept laughing when he stepped inside and knew that Isabelle was probably going to freak out even more. As the girl took some time to look up, Alec wasted no time and walked straight to Magnus, who currently had a visitor over, but that didn’t discourage the detective from stepping to his boyfriend and giving him a welcome kiss on top of his lips.

Magnus, who was having his friend, Ragnor, over was overjoyed when the door suddenly opened and Alec stepped inside. He was beyond excited to see his boyfriend and he smiled when Alec gave him a little peck on top of his lips, humming into their kiss as Alec connected their kiss into another sweet and gentle kiss, a bright blush dusting over Alec’s cheeks when he noticed that Magnus’ friend was observing them and he quickly pulled away, bit into his lower lip and ducked his head down, but the smile on his lips remained and he kissed Magnus’ temples before fully pulling away and he gently ruffled Magnus’ hair.

“How are you?” asked Alec and Magnus shrugged.

“Feeling a lot better now that I have my detective over,” said Magnus happily and grinned when he saw Ragnor rolling his eyes, but the smile on his friend’s lips remained and he sighed happily when he saw a shy smile spreading across Alec’s lips. Adorable, thought Magnus, but didn’t comment on it since he didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the others. “This, Alexander, is one of my best friends. Ragnor. I don’t think you’ve met already,” said Magnus and Alec quickly looked to the other male, who looked quite a bit older than Magnus and he politely offered his hand to him.

“Hello there. Alec Lightwood,” said Alec happily when Ragnor took his hand and shook it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he then quickly added and Ragnor quickly shook his head.

“The pleasure’s all mine, detective,” said Ragnor and grinned, looking over at Magnus and then back up at the detective. “Even though Magnus here has been up for only a week, you’re the only thing he’s talking about. I must say he never mentioned you before, but it’s refreshing to see him so happy,” he then added and it was Magnus’ turn to blush, Alec’s smug grin growing when he heard that Magnus loved talking about him. Well, it wasn’t like he was any better; he was going on and on about Magnus all the time.

Isabelle, who was still keeping distance couldn’t contain herself anymore and when he saw that there wasn’t only Magnus Bane in the room, but Ragnor Fell as well, she almost squealed like a crazy fangirl. Two of her favourite designers, her idols, in the same room. She wasn’t mentally prepared for that and now that the realisation finally stared sinking in, she just stood there, her heart hammering like crazy and she made herself know present as she finally walked closer to the trio, trying to keep a cool and professional composure, but when Magnus looked up at her and smiled, she giggled like star-struck fangirl and Magnus only laughed, Alec shaking his head, but was amused to see Isabelle like that; he wasn’t used to that side of her.

“He-hello there,” stammered Isabelle and slowly made her way to the bed, nervously and didn’t dare to look at Ragnor quite yet. While Magnus’ designs were flawless, Ragnor was one of the most famous designers out there and she didn’t want to make a complete ass out of herself in front of him. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m-”

“Of course I remember you, Pumpkin,” said Magnus softly and Alec grinned at the nickname. “Alec’s sister,” he then added and Isabelle slowly nodded and took in a deep breath. She knew that Magnus had a tendency to give people weird nicknames, from what Alec had told her, and she just grinned when she heard the nickname he chose for her. “It’s been a while since we’ve last seen each other,” said Magnus then and Isabelle nodded.

“It’s really nice to finally meet you… like this…. In person?” said Isabelle and scratched the back of her head and could see Ragnor frowning, but he said nothing. Magnus, on the other hand, only nodded, because he knew what she meant and signed her to come closer.

“Well, every friend of Magnus’, is a friend of mine,” said Ragnor and Isabelle’s eyes grew wide when she was spoken to by him. “I’m Ragnor-”

“Ragnor Fell, yes I know who you are!” exclaimed Isabelle and then covered her mouth with her palms and took in a few deep breaths to calm down. While she was having her little break down, Magnus and Alec looked at each other and started snickering. “Excuse me,” started Isabelle again and then made a short pause, Ragnor arching an eyebrow and looked up at Magnus, but said nothing and then waited for Isabelle to continue. “I just, um, I’m a big fan of your designs,” stammered the girl then and Ragnor smiled, finally getting what was going on. She was a fan of his. “I mean this is surreal. Two of my favourite designers in the same room, it’s like a dream come true,” started explaining Isabelle and then scowled at Alec, who was still snickering.

“Oh,” said Ragnor and smiled. “Well, I’m flattered, Miss Lightwood.”

“You can call me Isabelle,” said Izzy and shook her head. “Or Izzy, it doesn’t really matter,” she rambled and Magnus chuckled.

“Our Izzy, here, is a fashion designer as well,” suddenly blurted out Alec and Izzy’s eyes widened, blushing furiously. She turned to her brother and gave him a little smack across his shoulder, looking down and then she slowly looked up. Alec, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. Usually, it was Isabelle who was teasing him, so it was kind of nice to see the tables turned and his smug smile grew despite Isabelle’s annoyance. “Now, now, Izzy, no need to be so embarrassed. I didn’t tell anything embarrassing anyway and-”

“I’m sure Ragnor Fell isn’t in the mood to be talking about me and the moment. His friend is in the hospital and-” started Isabelle, because she didn’t think it was the right moment to be talking about her, but it was Magnus who interrupted her by speaking over her and as soon as he opened his mouth, Isabelle stopped talking and just bowed her head.

“Oh, don’t be silly, Pumpkin,” said Magnus with a little smile and laughed softly. “Alexander is right, Ragnor should hear all about you. I’ve seen your designs and I loved the way they looked, especially on Alexander. My dear Isabelle, I really must thank you for agreeing to give those jeans and shirt to your brother, because they do wonders for his body and-”

“Okay!” said Alec, interrupting Magnus, who was now going off track and he shook his head when he saw a playful smirk coming upon Magnus’ lips and he then smiled himself; he was so happy to have Magnus make fun of him like that. “I think we all know it by now that those clothes look great on me,” he said and then looked at Isabelle. “The point is, my sister is really talented.”

“True,” said Magnus, chiming in and he just grinned when he saw a little blush creeping onto Alec’s face. “I’d love to wear some of your creations myself, Isabelle,” said Magnus and when he saw that, Izzy covered her mouth to not scream too much, but he couldn’t really contain herself that much. And when Magnus saw that, an amused hum left Ragnor’s mouth and he nodded.

“Really?” asked Ragnor and Isabelle flinched when the famous designer looked up at her. “Well, that must mean that you’re really good. I consider myself to be very picky with what I wear, but choosing an outfit for my friend here has always been a pain in the ass. And if _he_ says he’d wear some of your designs, then this must mean that you’re really good,” went on by saying Ragnor and put his eyebrows together. “Isabelle Lightwood,” he said and shook his head. “I’m not sure I’ve heard of you before, which seems to be a pity,” he added and folded his hands on top of his chest. “Either way, now that we got to know each other, maybe someday you could come by my office and show me some of the things you’ve created or you’re working on currently?” offered Ragnor and Isabelle’s heart skipped a beat when she heard such a generous offer.

“E-excuse me?” stammered Isabelle and Ragnor grinned.

“To be honest, I’ve been looking for a young and aspiring designer for a while now and haven’t been able to find anyone,” said Ragnor and made a short pause. “My designs aren’t what they used to be, I think I’m losing touch with what’s hip these days. I mean, I am getting older. I might not show it, but trust me, I can feel it, the time is slowly starting to get me,” said Ragnor and then made a short pause once again, cleared his throat and took in a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about collaborating with someone with fresh and new ideas,” he then said and Isabelle straightened herself up. “I mean if you’d be interested to come by my office to see what you have to offer, we could maybe-” started explaining Ragnor, but Isabelle then interrupted him once again.

“You want to collaborate with _me?_ ” asked Isabelle slowly, trying to make sure that what she had heard was true and when Ragnor nodded and smiled, Isabelle quickly nodded, smiling like an idiot. She wanted to squeal again, but then reminded herself that she needed to stay professional and after taking in a deep breath, she managed to calm herself down a bit. “Yes, Mr. Fell, I would be very much interested in working with you. I mean it would be an honour,” she started babbling again and just as she was about to ramble again, Alec stopped her by clearing his throat and she quickly pressed her lips together and Ragnor only chuckled.

“Very well, Miss Lightwood,” said Ragnor and slowly got onto his legs and shook Izzy’s hand. As he took her hand into his, Izzy’s legs felt like jelly and she was shocked that she managed to shake the man’s hand with a straight and composed face. “I look forward to hearing more from you. This is my business card and the address of my company. I’d love to hear from you as soon as possible,” said Ragnor and Isabelle just nodded, took the card into her hand and it seemed as if she was in some kind of trance, Alec again snickering next to her.

“Yes, I’ll come by your office the first thing on Monday,” said Isabelle and then looked down to her hand, which Ragnor was holding before and promised to herself that she was never washing that hand again. It seemed like a silly and childish thing to think, but she had been admiring Ragnor from her early teen years and now a decade later, she got a chance to meet him in person. Not only that, but he wanted to collaborate with her in the future! “If that’s okay with you,” she then quickly added and Ragnor nodded.

“Sounds good to me,” said Ragnor and then looked at Magnus, who was just listening to the whole conversation with a bright smile on his face. “Now then, I’m afraid I’ll have to leave, my dear friend,” said Ragnor to Magnus, who slowly nodded, because he knew that Ragnor was a busy man, but still took enough time to come and visit him almost every day. “I think I’ll be leaving you in safe hands though,” he then added and smiled as he looked up at Alec and Isabelle. While Isabelle was still in her day-dreaming land, Alec managed to smile and nod.

“No need to worry about me, Ragnor,” said Magnus with a little smile and glanced at Alec, who was now standing much closer to him and sighed happily. “With Alec and his sister by my side, I think I’ll manage,” he then added and chuckled when he felt Alec taking his hand.

“I’ll take good care of him,” chimed Alec in and Ragnor hummed in amusement.

“Oh, I bet you will,” said Ragnor and winked, Alec clearing his throat and he blushed when he realised what he blurted out before, but he didn’t back away, because he meant it. “I’ll come and visit you tomorrow though,” he added, speaking to Magnus now and after he gently ruffled his hair, he was on his way, leaving the trio alone in the room. After Magnus said his goodbyes to his friend, his eyes went to Alec, who was now already sitting down next to him, while Isabelle was holding her distance a bit, but then moved closer after Alec signed her to come closer.

* * *

Later that day, when Isabelle also left the hospital, because she had some plans with Maia, Alec decided to stay at the hospital for a little while with Magnus, not really wanting to leave. He was excited to spend some time alone with him again, his face literally glowing as he kept stealing glances at his boyfriend, while Magnus kept looking at him, finding it adorable how Alec quickly looked away when their eyes would meet. Alec sat there next to Magnus in complete silence, but then his loud sigh interrupted the silence that fell between them and Magnus hummed in amusement, wondering what was on Alec’s mind.

“What are you thinking, dear?” asked Magnus softly and tried to move his hand, to touch Alec’s hand, but the only thing that he managed to move were his fingers and he cursed, gritting his teeth and that didn’t go unnoticed from Alec’s eyes. However, because he knew that it must’ve been difficult on Magnus as it was, he decided not to go asking how his recovery was going in great details. He did that once and ended up upsetting Magnus without even knowing it himself. Instead of directly asking Magnus, Alec learned that it was better to ask Catarina to see how he was doing and from what she told him, he was making some improvement, but it would take him a long, long time before he’d be able to go back to his usual self.

“About you,” said Alec, because it was the truth and then gave Magnus a little smile. His reply seemed to please Magnus, because a broad smile spread across his face as well. Alec cleared his throat and then shrugged, leaning closer to Magnus when he realised that he was quiet for too long. “I mean, you, _us_ ,” he then quickly corrected himself and sighed happily. “Well, I’m thinking about _our_ future together,” said the detective after a while and Magnus snickered.

“Well, aren’t you the romantic and corny one, Alexander,” commented Magnus and couldn’t stop himself from smiling wider, because just hearing that Alec was thinking about their future warmed up his heart and made him feel all sorts of things on the inside. His comment made Alec smile, but he didn’t back down and just shrugged again when he saw that Magnus was again thinking about something, his eyes having that naughty sparkle and he didn’t even want to know what was going on in the other’s head. “Tell me, what kind of things do you see us doing in the future?” asked Magnus and Alec bit into his lower lip, images of him and Magnus flying through his mind and honestly, there were so many things that he wanted to do with him.

“For starters, we could go on our real first date,” stammered Alec and Magnus hummed.

“Didn’t we already have one? Remember that evening when we went to the cinema?” asked Magnus and beamed at Alec when the other one nodded and bit into his lower lip. That was technically also the first time they kissed, thought Magnus and chuckled. “You were so nervous and couldn’t concentrate on the movie at all. All you did was stare at me,” teased Magnus and Alec rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, like you were any better,” said Alec, defensive, but then shook his head. “What I meant is… yeah, that was technically our first date, but, you know what I mean. You were a _ghost_ before and now that you’re awake, I want to go out with you for real. Hold hands with you in public and all that stuff,” said Alec and Magnus grinned.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were into public display of affection so much,” teased Magnus, but then his smile disappeared and he sighed. “While I’d love to go out with you, Alexander, it’ll take a long time before I’ll be able to get out from here and I-”

“I don’t care, I’ll wait for as long as I need to,” said Alec quickly and kissed Magnus softly, whose heart swell with a mixture of sadness and happiness. He had to look down so that he wouldn’t cry and he then pressed his lips together when he felt Alec linking their fingers together.

“Yeah, I know,” whispered Magnus and puffed his cheeks, trying to push away the feelings of sadness for the time being. Rather, he needed to focus on more positive things. “After our date,” he stammered, his voice trembling, but he swallowed back the sadness and he looked back up at his boyfriend. “What else do you see yourself doing with me?”

“Moving in together,” blurted out Alec and Magnus chuckled. “Then marrying you, adopting a couple of kids and spending the rest of my life with you,” he added and felt his face heating up, but the smile didn’t disappear from his lips. Thinking of having all of that in the future with Magnus made him feel so giddy and happy that he almost couldn’t contain himself. Magnus was thinking the same and as he closed his eyes he could almost picture it; he and Alec living in the same apartment, a couple of kids running around. All of that made him feel so happy and when he opened his eyes again, a devious smile spread across his face.

“That’s all?” asked Magnus, pretending to be disappointed. Alec, on the other hand, arched an eyebrow, because he didn’t know where Magnus was aiming with that. “I mean all of that sounds lovely. But darling, didn’t you forget the main part? What about sexy times with me?” asked Magnus playfully and Alec’s jaw dropped. “Once I get back in shape, you won’t be able to keep your hands off of all of this,” said Magnus playfully, talking about himself and Alec only shook his head and bowed his head down.

“You really can’t keep things PG 13 for once, can you?” asked Alec and Magnus started laughing out loud.

“You know me so well,” said Magnus and grinned when he saw Alec shaking his head. “Of course I can’t.”

“Magnus, Magnus,” said Alec and clicked with his tongue, his lips widening and he leaned closer to the other. “Just what am I going to do with you?” he asked and saw Magnus waggling his eyebrows.

“Shut up and kiss me,” ordered Magnus and that was exactly what Alec did, Magnus gasping softly when he felt Alec’s lips pressing on top of his, closing his eyes as he returned the detective a sweet and long kiss.


	22. Chapter 22

Magnus was peacefully resting on the bed, waiting for the doctors to do their daily check up on him, his eyes closed and a smile was resting on his lips as his thoughts were with Alec. He had been visiting him every day and was also spending the nights over at the hospital, making things on Magnus a little bit easier. Even though Magnus appeared to be okay on the outside, eternally he was slowly crumbling apart. He knew that he should be happy for getting a second chance to be with Alec, but after weeks of being awake and not being able to move more than his arms was slowly starting to drive him insane. In front of Alec, he never said anything, because he didn't want to cause him even more worries. However, when he was completely alone, or with Catarina, he would slowly crumble apart and begged that he would somehow be able to regain movement in his body completely.

Catarina was telling him that he needed to be more patient, but he didn’t know what to do. Magnus wasn’t a very patient man and he wanted the results to happen immediately. However, slowly he was starting to understand that he would need a lot of time before he’d be able to go back to his usual self. He was lucky to have such supportive people around him; Catarina, Jace, Isabelle, Maia, Ragnor and, of course, Alexander. They were all there for him when he needed a shoulder to cry on, but it was still tough. Being the perfectionist and workaholic that he was, it was killing him that he couldn’t do anything on his own. He used to be very independent, but now all of that was taken away from him and every day was a living nightmare. But still, having others around made things a lot more bearable.

As all of this was happening, Camille was still trying to come back into his life, but Magnus wouldn’t let her. Because that was technically ‘her’ hospital, he couldn’t just throw her out, because the staff wouldn’t really listen to his wishes, but he would refuse to have a conversation with her. She would beg and beg him to listen to her apologies, but Magnus knew better and he knew that all of those promises and apologies were just empty words, without any meaning. He came to understand what kind of snake she was and there was nothing that would convince him otherwise, to allow her back into his life. Even as a friend. No, he was done with her completely. He had given her enough chances before and he was let down every single time, so he knew that there was no point in trying with her anymore. Magnus usually gave people more than one chance, but this had taught him that some people just didn’t appreciate that and they just took him for granted.

Camille was claiming that he couldn’t do that to her; that he needed to be more grateful to her, because it was her that made him famous designer in the first place. While that was true – and worked most of the time – Magnus realised that even though he was thankful for her help to get him into the fashion industry, he needed to be more kind to himself. Yes, she helped him, but he worked hard to get where he was and to see Camille shitting all over his hard-gained money and fame pissed him off. She was able to guilt-trip him before, but not anymore. He was well-known because of himself and not because of her! It was his designs that people loved, not Camille’s.

With that on his mind, Magnus felt a lot better and as he was still waiting for the doctors to come, he was humming himself a melody of a song that his mother used to sing him to lull him to sleep. A sad smile spread across his face when he remembered what Alexander told him about his family and he sighed. It was a bitter-sweet feeling. For once; he was done with hiding and was finally able to live a fear-free life now that he knew that his step-father was out of the picture for good. However, his heart still ached for his mother. All of these years he still had some hope that maybe she was able to run away from that monster. With the facts that Alec presented him with made him realise that his mother was probably deceased as well and even though Magnus didn’t want to admit it to himself, he somehow knew that deep inside all along.

Yes, Magnus Bane was ready to take on the world and interact with people more. He used to be hiding from his fans, which lead to a lot of people doubting he actually gave a damn about the people who loved and bought his clothes. But, that couldn’t be further away from the truth; his fans meant everything to him and he cherished them more than he cherished himself sometimes. Seeing some people say that he was a snob for not showing his face to the public was hurtful, but it was still better than risking his step-father finding him by accident. Now he had different plans; when he’d get out of the hospital, he was planning to share his story with the world and apologise to all of the people that thought he didn’t care about his fans – which he had quite a lot from what he could see.

As he was thinking about his future plans, the door of his room suddenly opened and he quickly perked up, excitement setting in, because he was expecting Alec to come inside. However, he was met with disappointment when he saw Goldilocks stepping inside of the room instead and he sighed, rolling his eyes, but he said nothing. His and Jace’s relationship was still rocky, but they were getting there. Because they were both important people in Alec’s life, he knew that they needed to work out their differences and at least try to be civil with each other. Even though Magnus said nothing, the disappointment on his face was pretty clear and he just shook his head, looked down and chuckled. It was kind of adorable to see Magnus getting so disappointed when he realised that it wasn’t Alec that was paying him a visit.

“No need to look so disappointed,” commented Jace as soon as he stepped inside and then closed the door. He walked closer to the bed and then cleared his throat, rubbing his palms together. Before, the two of them hadn’t spent any time alone, so he felt a bit awkward, as did Magnus, who stayed quiet, but watched Jace’s every move. “I might not be Alec, but I’m still a bundle of joy to be around,” stated the detective playfully and Magnus scoffed, but then a smile set on his face and he just sighed.

“Hey and sorry about that,” said Magnus and then pressed his lips together when he saw Jace just awkwardly standing there next to his bed. Magnus chuckled at that and then looked back up at Jace. “Well, for starters, you can sit down. I don’t bite, it’s not like I can get out of the bed,” joked Magnus, but there was a sign of bitterness sensed in his voice and Jace bowed his head down and quickly did as Magnus told him, sitting down and then he placed his hands together in his lap. “So, Detective Douche,” started Magnus and Jace only groaned when he heard that nick-name; he was used to it by now so it didn’t bother him too much anymore. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“Alec sent be here to see how you’re doing,” said Jace softly and Magnus arched an eyebrow, because that didn’t make sense. If Alec wanted to see how he was doing, he could easily go see him for himself. Because of that, Magnus knew that that were more to it and he frowned. Maybe Alec was busy with work that piled up because he was so preoccupied with taking care of him. Jace saw the confusion written all over Magnus’ face and he knew that he owed him a bit of an explanation. “Alec’s not feeling well. He caught a cold and because he doesn’t want to pass in onto you, he sent me here instead. Plus, he’s busy with work. Luke’s been giving him quite a lot of reports to write lately,” he then added and Magnus’ eyes widened.

“Alexander’s sick?” stammered Magnus, devastated to hear that and he partially blamed himself for that. Alec was pushing himself far too much lately; with his job, difficult cases, other ghosts constantly visiting him and yet, he never failed to go see him in the hospital. Magnus noticed that Alec looked very tired lately, but he decided to be selfish and enjoy the time he had with his boyfriend. However, now that he heard that, his heart squeezed and a lump formed in his throat as he looked down and then pressed his lips together. “Who’s Luke? And why is he making things that harder on Alexander?” snapped Magnus then and Jace only laughed when he saw the over-protective side of Magnus coming out and he just shook his head. Alec wasn’t really _that_ sick, he just didn’t want to pass on his cold onto Magnus. But of course Magnus was going to overreact.

“Relax, Magnus, it’s just a simple cold. It’s nothing serious,” said Jace, trying to calm down the other one, but wasn’t really that successful. “And Luke is our boss. He’s a good guy, don’t get mad at him. It’s true that he gave a lot of reports to Alec to write, but it was his own wish to do so. He feels kind of guilty for neglecting work – even though he didn’t really if you ask me – and now just wants to make it up to Luke. That’s so like Alec, so you shouldn’t worry too much, he’ll be fine.”

“But,” protested Magnus and pressed his lips together. “If he’s sick, then he should rest. I’m fine with him not visiting me, but you telling me that he’s just working himself harder _and_ he’s sick at the same time doesn’t really make me less worried, even you’re telling me that that’s normal for him,” said Magnus softly, his voice filled with worry and he then looked down. “It’s because of me that he got sick at the first place. And if gets even sicker, I’ll-”

“Magnus, Magnus, Alec’s gonna be okay,” said Jace with a little smile and Magnus clenched his jaw, but said nothing. Jace telling him that Alec was going to be okay didn’t make him feel at ease at all, but he decided to let it go for the time being, because he really didn’t have the energy to be arguing with the blond one. Instead, he stayed quiet, nervously chewing on his lower lip, dying to talk to Alec, because he wanted to see his true condition. However, Jace woke him up from his worries and he forced himself to look up when Jace spoke to him again. “More importantly, how are you feeling?” asked Jace softly and Magnus stiffened up again as he felt his stomach making a flop, a lump forming at his throat as he thought about his own condition.

“I’ve been better,” stammered Magnus and puffed his cheeks and tried not to give into his fear, but his face gave him away as he looked at Jace and the other one could read him like an open book; he was terrified and Jace gave him a compassionate look. “I just… I’m terrified,” confessed Magnus and his breath shook as he spoke.

“That’s completely normal,” said Jace and made a short pause. “Alec’s been telling me that you’re handling this well, but he worries about you. He knows that you’re pretending to be okay,” said the blonde one then and Magnus visibly tensed up at those words, swallowing thickly as he mentally cursed. Shit, he didn’t want to make Alec even more worried and now that he heard that, he felt kind of guilty for hiding his true feelings in front of him. “You shouldn’t blame yourself, Magnus,” said Jace quickly when he noticed the other one started eating himself apart with guilt. “I’d do the same if I was in your position. I get it, you don’t want him to worry, it’s completely normal and while you can keep up a tough appearance in front of Alec, you don’t have to do it in front of me,” he added and Magnus pressed his lips together.

Magnus was glad to see that Jace was ready to be there for him and to listen, but he didn’t know if he was comfortable enough to be sharing such things with him. They weren’t exactly close friends. Then again, he pretended to be okay in front of Ragnor and Catarina as well, because he didn’t want them to worry about him. So maybe talking to the Detective Douche wasn’t such a bad idea to be honest. After a few moments of silence, Magnus looked back up at the blonde one, who was patiently waiting for him to continue and he let out a shaky breath. “It’s just that I don’t want people to worry about me, I’ve put them through enough already,” stammered Magnus and Jace gave him an understanding nod. “But maybe talking to you wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I mean, I know we’re not exactly close friends, but-”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure that the two of us will grow closer soon,” said Jace and waggled his eyebrows. “I’ve been told that I have this charm that makes it impossible for people to not like me,” said the other one, who was now just kidding and Magnus only laughed, because he could see so much of himself in Jace. Maybe they were far too alike – not that Magnus wanted to admit that. When Jace saw the smile on Magnus’ face, he grinned and then shrugged. “So, if you wanna lay it out on me, I’m here and ready to listen,” he then added with a serious face.

“Aren’t you a humble one,” said Magnus with a chuckle and then bit into his lower lip. “I just… worry, constantly,” he then stated after a little while. “Catarina and all of the other doctors say that they’re very positive that I’ll regain movement in my arms and legs, but I just… I don’t know. I’m scared. There’s always this possibility that it won’t work out. I mean the Universe has already gifted me with so much,” said Magnus, referring to the second chance he got, Alexander, getting new awesome friends. “What if this is it? I mean I should be grateful enough that I got so much already and yet I’m still being greedy. When will I learn?”

Jace took a bit of his time before he responded and he shook his head. “You aren’t greedy, Magnus. You’re human, so of course it’s normal for you to be afraid,” he said. “I’ve been through a few things myself… years ago I got seriously injured at one of the cases, I was shot. I almost died. Honestly, if Alec wasn’t there, I would be a dead man today,” he said and cleared his throat, Magnus’ eyes widening when he heard that. “The point that I’m trying to make is… it needed me a lot of time before I recovered completely. Almost a year and there were times when I wanted to give up. Mind you, that at the time, my doctors weren’t so optimistic with my case, but because I’m very stubborn, I decided to show them that they were wrong,” said Jace with his usual cocky smile and then bit into his lower lip.

“Oh,” said Magnus and lowered his gaze. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t-” he stammered, but then stopped talking and stayed quiet for a few moments. He had no idea that Jace had gone through something like that and hearing that someone else beat the system made him feel a bit better. He found a new respect for Jace and after a while he looked back up at him. “You’re right, I should be more optimistic and try harder, not feel sorry for myself,” he stammered and Jace shook his head.

“It’s okay to feel sorry for yourself for a little while, it’s just important you don’t give into that feeling,” said Jace and pressed his lips together. “Alec has told me what you’ve been put through so far and I must say that you’ve had it rough. But I’m sure that made you stronger and I’m sure that you’ll be able to overcome this obstacle as well. You won’t have to do it alone this time,” added Jace and felt a bit awkward saying emotional stuff like that, but he wanted to give Magnus hope, because he knew how he felt.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” said Magnus softly and then a little smile spread across his face. “I just don’t want to become a burden on Alec,” he then suddenly blurted out and Jace’s eyes widened.

“What?!” snapped Jace. “The guy loves you more than he loves himself, there’s no way you’d ever become a burden for him, Magnus. You’re the reason he got better after that horrible break up, you gave his life a new meaning. Back then, he depended on you a lot. Allow yourself now to be able to depend on him more,” he said and sighed. “Talk to him, don’t hide things from him. Because if you ever hurt him, I swear I’ll kick your ass,” he then added, half as a joke, but Magnus knew that Jace meant what he said and he nodded.

“Hurting Alec’s the last thing I’d ever do,” whispered Magnus and then looked back up at Jace. “You’re absolutely right, I need to learn how to share my demons with others,” he then added and sighed. “Thank you for coming Jace,” he then added and Jace arched an eyebrow. “Alec was right, you’re not half bad.”

“Um, thanks?” said Jace, but knowing Magnus he knew that he should take that as an compliment. After that, the two of them continued talking about lighter things, Magnus annoying the hell out of Jace when the other one blurted out that he was afraid of ducks. At that moment, Magnus made it his mission that once he would get better, he would design a special duck-themed outfit especially for Jace. He was sure that the blonde was going to just _love_ it, a devious grin spreading across his face as he continued playing with that idea.

* * *

“Ah, screw this,” moaned Alec, who was in the middle of typing a police report and then leaned back in his chair, extending his arms out, spinning around in his chair and then he sneezed. He was exhausted, it was like someone completely sucked out all of the energy out of him, but he knew that he still had a lot of work to do. He would much rather be with Magnus, but work was important as well. Also he caught that pesky cold, which he didn’t want to pass onto Magnus, so he decided to stay away for the time being. However, he was planning on calling Catarina later on to see how Magnus was doing.

Alec miserably looked at the other pile of files and papers he still needed to sort out and he already felt sick down to his stomach. He knew that it was his own fault for getting himself in that much amount of work – he was the one who asked Luke to give him all of that – but at the moment all of that was forgotten, Alec’s annoyance targeted at Luke, even though he knew that his boss wasn’t at fault there. But it was that much easier to be annoyed with someone else, so he decided to go with that.

“Stupid Luke, giving me so much work,” he whined and hid his face into his palms as he let out a defeated groan. As he continued complaining over Luke out loud, he didn’t notice how someone stepped behind him and when Alec heard someone clearing his throat behind him, he almost had a heart attack. When he turned around, all of the colour left Alec’s face when he saw that his boss was standing there and he quickly lowered his gaze. Shit, he knew that he was fucked. Luke probably heard all of his ranting and even though he usually wasn’t the type to get angry, Alec still worried, slapping himself mentally for being such an idiot. He should be more careful!

“Is there a problem, Detective Lightwood?” asked the man, his arms folded on top of his chest and his arched eyebrow sent shivers down Alec’s spine. The younger one quickly straightened himself up in his chair and quickly shook his head. Alec didn’t know if Luke looked annoyed or not; it was always so difficult to read that man. Still, Alec decided to remain careful of what he would say.

“No, there’s no problems,” said Alec quickly, feeling like a kind again that was getting scolded. It was a definitely strange feeling.

“M-hmm,” hummed Luke and tried his best not to laugh out loud when he saw Alec bowing his head down apologetically. It was _so_ clear that Alec knew what he did wrong and the fact that a full grown man like him was able to get like that was beyond hilarious to the man. Of course he wasn’t angry at Alec, he just wanted to have a bit of a laugh, but when he saw how serious Alec was taking all of this, a smile cracked his serious expression and Alec flinched when he heard a deep laughter above him.

“What?” asked Alec in confusion when he looked up and Luke just shook his head.

“Earlier it sounded like you were having some problems, so I came here to check up on you,” said Luke, who wasn’t laughing anymore, but the grin stayed on his face.

“Sir, I’m very sorry for the things I said-” started Alec, but Luke stopped him.

“Alec, there’s no need to apologise. I’m only kidding around,” said Luke and Alec visibly relaxed as soon as he said that. “I think that you should call it a day. I mean it’s already pretty late and you’ve been here typing these reports for almost entire day. I came here to tell you that, that’s all,” he then added and a loud ‘oh’ left Alec’s mouth.

“Seriously?” asked Alec and narrowed his eyes. It was true that Luke was a fun and nice boss, but usually he wouldn’t let people go home just like that if they promised to do something to him. He was a man of principals and that was why Alec looked up to him so much and wanted to be more like him.

“Yep,” said Luke and chuckled. “Jace explained to me that you’ve been dealing with some personal issues. I don’t know exactly what you’ve been through, but I can understand all too well how it is to be in pain,” he said, referring to the death of his deceased wife, Jocelyn, who was killed by Valentine, a serial killer and her ex-husband that Luke had been after for years. Luckily, he was able to finally catch him and put him prison for good, but the price he had to pay was great and Alec knew that all too well. “So, relax. Go home and relax, it’s kind of pointless to be working here if you’re not feeling well,” he then added and gave Alec a little smile and gently patted his shoulder. A furrow formed between Alec’s eyebrows at the touch, but he said nothing. Instead, he gave Luke a smile back and nodded, thanking him for being understanding.

After that, Alec quickly decided that it was time for him to go home. He was still kind of freaked out by how _close_ Luke seemed to be before, so he decided to go over to Isabelle’s and tell her everything that was on his mind. However, what freaked him out even more was that as he was putting everything into his bag, he saw his mother coming inside of the station. Because he was in his office, Maryse couldn’t see him. At first, Alec thought that she was there for him, but nothing could prepare him when his mother just walked by his office and headed over to Luke’s. Curious, Alec decided to spy on them and his jaw dropped when he peaked inside of Luke’s office and saw Luke embracing his mother and then giving her a quick kiss.

Upon seeing that, Alec got the hell out of there and hurried to Isabelle’s place. Maybe she was going to have some answers, because Alec had no idea when it the world Luke and his mom got so close. Alec didn’t really keep a close contact with his parents, so who knew what in the world was going on with the two of them. Apparently a lot must’ve happened! And why was Alec always the last one to know?


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, everyone ! :) I'm wishing all of you happy and peaceful holidays ^^
> 
> I hope that you're going to enjoy the chapter ^o^/

“So if I’m understanding this correctly,” started Alec and frowned as he looked over at Clary. “Luke, your step-dad, and my mom are _dating_?” he asked for the third time already, because he still couldn’t wrap his head around that fact. Currently, he, Izzy, Clary and Jace were out at a café and were discussing that matter, because even Isabelle didn’t know at first that this was going on. Just like Alec, she also didn’t keep in touch with their parents, so it was news for her as well. Clary, on the other hand, apparently knew that all along and Alec just kept on shaking his head when Clary nodded and he then rolled his eyes. So if that was indeed true, then what happened between Robert and Maryse? Alec knew that they were having some troubles in their marriage before he moved out, but he thought that they would eventually make up. They always did.

“Yes, it’s true,” said Clary and Alec looked over at Isabelle, who had a puzzled expression on her face. Jace was weirded out by that as well; he didn’t know what to make of it. As a kid, he used to live with the Lightwoods, so in a way, Maryse was like a mother to him as well. And to know that she was now getting together with Clary’s step-father was very weird and confusing to the blonde one.

“How long has this been going on?” asked Isabelle and looked over at Clary, who placed her hands behind her back and looked down. It’s been going on for a while and she felt guilty that she didn’t tell her friends earlier. But at the same time, she didn’t know that if it was her place to tell. If Luke or Maryse wanted others to know, then they would say something themselves.

“For about three months or so,” stammered the red-head and Alec’s jaw dropped.

“And yet you never mentioned anything?” snapped Alec, because he was angry at Clary now. If she was indeed their friend, then she should have said something. As hot-headed as Alec was, he couldn’t really control what was coming out of his mouth and even though he knew he should take more things into consideration that part of his logic thinking flew out of the window.

“I’m so sorry, Alec,” said Clary and looked down. “I just… didn’t know whether it was my place to say something or not. Luke doesn’t know that I know, I happened to catch them one night when I was at the station. And this was around three months ago. Maybe it’s been going on for longer, I don’t know,” she then said and looked down, sighing deeply and she then pressed her lips together when she looked over at Alec again. “I really _am_ sorry, Alec.”

“Come on, man, don’t take it out on Clary,” said Jace, who wrapped an arm around his girlfriend and gave Alec an offended look and Alec only rolled his eyes, but then nodded, because he knew that Clary had a point. He then looked over at Izzy, who was still silent and thinking about everything.

“So this means that mom probably left dad, right?” asked Isabelle and Alec only shrugged. Isabelle, on the other hand, seemed relieved about that? Alec frowned and gave his sister a confused look. “Alec, you don’t know this, but about a year ago, I found out that dad was having an affair,” said the girl and Alec’s eyes widened. “Mom didn’t say anything, but I heard them fighting and mom crying,” she added. “This is why she was so bitter and miserable all the time. She was suffering and probably only stayed with dad because of Max,” she said and Alec’s heart squeezed when he heard that. Suddenly, he became very angry with their dad and he pressed his lips together. How in the world could he do that to Maryse? Sure, she had her flaws, but she was still his _wife_. Alec loathed cheaters and now that his dad turned out to be one, he was pissed. “So if mom left him for good, then I’m happy for her.”

“Robert cheated on Maryse?” snapped Jace.

“Son of a-” started Alec, but then bit into his own tongue to prevent himself from saying something stupid. However, he was very angry when he heard that and he clenched his jaw, firming fists with his hands and he then just bowed his head down and took in a deep breath, trying to clear his thoughts. Now more things made sense and he didn’t really blame Clary for not telling them sooner. Also, he didn’t blame Maryse, because Alec knew just how much pride she took in her marriage with Robert. On the outside, they were the power-duo; powerful people who were able to make fortune from basically nothing. But, on the inside, there were many problems. Obviously. “I’m glad she left, yes,” finally said Alec and Isabelle nodded. “But to be with Luke? That’s just… a lot to get used to. He’s my boss,” he then said and a little smile cracked Izzy’s expression. “But I know that he was also put through a lot,” he said and eyed Clary, who looked down and nodded. “So if my mom makes him happy, then I’m happy for them.”

“Now, now, you’ll get used to it,” said Isabelle and then looked over at Clary. “Look this on a brighter side,” said Isabelle happily. “If Luke and mom get married, then Clary’s gonna be our sister,” she said and clasped her hands together, beyond excited about that fact. “Isn’t that exciting?” asked Izzy happily and Clary quickly nodded. Alec, on the other hand, didn’t know what to think about _that_ fact. He had just somehow gotten used to Clary and now there was a possibility that she could technically become his sister?

_Yay._

“Ah, yes, sure. Very exciting,” said Alec, his tone flat and Isabelle started laughing.

“You’re such a buzzkill, Alec,” said Isabelle and shook her head, turning to Clary and she placed a hand on top of her shoulder and gave her a warm smile. “Well, I’m happy about that. I mean you were a family long before this, but still, it’s just so exciting,” said Izzy happily and Clary nodded in agreement.

“Yes!”

“You gonna be okay, Alec?” asked Jace and Alec shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess. This is just a lot to process,” replied Alec, but after a while came in terms with how things were and saw that it wasn’t so bad. Like he said previously, his mother _and_ Luke deserved happiness. They were both through a lot so far, so it shouldn’t be up to him what they did. With that on his mind, a little smile spread across his face and when he looked at the clock, he realised that he should slowly get going. Magnus was already probably waiting for him. But before he left, he made sure that he bought Magnus something _sweet_ ; a piece of cake. He remembered Magnus saying that he was a sweet-tooth, so before heading to the hospital, Alec decided to buy his boyfriend a little surprise.

* * *

''Be a good boy and open wide for me,'' said Alec, who was sitting on Magnus' bed, holding a plate with a cake, which he bought only for Magnus that day, in his hands and was attempting to feed his boyfriend. The whole idea of him feeding Magnus was kind of childish, but deep inside he found it kind of romantic and adorable. He found himself to be wanting to try it out for a while now and Magnus only glared at him as he said that and puffed his cheeks, feeling his face heating up, which was really unusual for him and Alec grinned. ''Choo-choo, here comes the train,'' tried Alec again and brought the spoon up to Magnus' mouth, who kept them closed and continued glaring at Alec.

''Alexander, this isn't funny,'' said Magnus, because he was getting kind of annoyed with Alec. He wanted to feed himself and he was perfectly capable of doing so. Slowly, he was able to regain movement in his arms, but he was still kind of clumsy with it and it took a lot of energy from him to keep going. However, ever since his talk with Jace, he was feeling a lot more optimistic and he stopped fearing of what the future might bring. ''You know I am able to eat on my own,'' he then added stubbornly and Alec only rolled his eyes, but didn't let that get to him. Yes, he knew that. But, he wanted to pamper Magnus as much as he could. He kind of wanted to make it up to him too, because he wasn't able to go see him for a few days, while the cold lasted.

“Yes, yes, I know all of that,” said Alec, a tugging at his lips and he then sighed happily, Magnus giving him an odd look. Alec didn’t know why he was smiling like an idiot, he was just _so_ happy that he couldn’t help himself. Seeing Magnus’ recovery meant everything to him and all of the other things didn’t matter. “Come on now, sweetie,” said Alec and cringed as he said the nickname, Magnus arching an eyebrow. “If you’re a good boy and listen to me, I’ll give you a reward,” said Alec playfully and waggled his eyebrows, Magnus perking up at that, kind of curious what kind of a reward Alec had in mind.

“Really?” asked Magnus, still unsure what to think about everything. Having Alec feeding him was kind of too much for his big ego, but at the same time, he found it cute how much Alec wanted to pamper him and he would lie if he said that he didn’t enjoy it. “A reward? What kind?” he then asked, still having his doubts and Alec hummed playfully.

“Open your mouth and find out,” said Alec and even though Magnus rolled his eyes yet again, he opened his mouth and ate a small piece of that chocolate cake. As sweet taste filled Magnus’ mouth, he was in a better mood immediately and when he swallowed it, Alec gently held his chin up and turned his head a little bit. “Good job. Now, here’s your reward as promised,” whispered Alec, his voice an octave lower than usual as he leaned closer to Magnus and gave him a little kiss. Magnus smiled into their kiss and he had to admit it that he liked this kind of a reward, ready to finish the whole plate if Alec would give him sweet kisses like that after every bite.

Alec kissed Magnus for the second time and as he pulled back, he licked his lower lip, still tasting the chocolate on his lips. He had to force himself not to attack Magnus’ sweet lips right there and focused on feeding his boyfriend the cake. With each bite came the kiss that lasted longer and longer, Alec getting bolder with each time. It didn’t take too long for Magnus to finish the piece of cake and by that time, both of them were panting, Alec quickly placing the plate onto the night stand and then he wasted no more time as he leaned back to Magnus and crushed their lips together, Magnus letting out a muffled moan when Alec was kissing him again

Magnus’ entire body was literally on fire when he felt Alec’s finger holding his neck gently, then going up to his hair and gently tugging at his locks, Magnus softly moaning at the sensation. Their innocent kisses soon transformed into so much more; eager, Magnus darted his tongue out and gently licked along Alec’s lower lip, the latter moaning softly as he felt that and wasted no more time, parting his lips a little bit and allowed Magnus access. Magnus smiled as he slowly pushed his tongue inside of Alec’s hot mouth, the detective’s mouth spinning as he explored the warmth of Magnus’ mouth, the taste of him getting him intoxicated. Magnus tasted so sweet and Alec didn’t want to stop, losing all of his self-control when he felt Magnus’ hand at his cheek.

“Magnus,” breathed out Alec as he broke their kiss, gasping for air and his face was flushed into deep shades of red. Magnus moaned and he bit into his lower lip; Alec looked completely wrecked after just _kissing_ and when he imagined doing more than that and wondering how Alec would look then, he had to control himself not to attack Alec’s lips again. But while he managed to find that self-control, Alec couldn’t.

Slowly, he laid down next to Magnus, the other one chuckling, but then his laughter died out when their eyes met, Alec’s ones completely dark with lust and hunger. Alec’s eyes travelled lower and stopped on Magnus’ neck, which looked so _inviting_ that Alec just had to have a taste of. He ducked his head down and placed a few probing kisses all over Magnus’ neck, kissing his way to his Adam’s apple, then back to the side of his neck and he grinned when he saw that Magnus’ breathing had gotten laboured. He looked up, bliss written all over Magnus’ face, who was biting onto his lower lip hard.

Feeling Alec’s soft and warm lips against his neck was amazing, Magnus losing himself completely and even though he wanted to control his moans, he couldn’t when something wet joined in the little innocent kisses from before. Realising that Alec was now teasing him with little lick and nibbles every now and then turned on Magnus and he leaned his head to the side, allowing Alec better access. The younger one grinned when he saw that and kissed his way up, from Magnus’ neck, to his ear and then down to his jaw before he crushed their lips back together, Magnus’ heart beating like crazy when Alec placed a hand on top of his chest. Nothing more than that, just Alec’s hand resting there made Magnus’ heart beat with the speed of light and even though he was dying to return Alec the favour, he made a compromise to himself that next time, he’d be the one making Alec feel good.

Alec was having the time of his life; he could tell that Magnus liked the attention and that was all that he could ask for. He moved a bit closer to Magnus, placing one arm around him, while the other one remained resting on the other’s chest, grinning when he felt his fast heartbeat. Then again, Alec wasn’t any better; he was a mess and he knew it. But he didn’t let that show and he kissed Magnus again, while his hand travelled lower, down to Magnus’ stomach and then back up to his chest. He wanted to touch Magnus more, but he knew that he needed to keep his boundaries for a little while. While his lust-fogged mind was yelling at him to go for it, he managed to keep his hands there. However, Magnus had something else on his mind. As Alec was kissing him and with his hand roaming around his body like that made him want more. He wanted so much more and his entire body was literally shaking with need for release.

“Alexander,” breathed out Magnus and Alec pulled back a little, kissing his forehead and Magnus gave him a little smile. “More,” demanded Magnus and then bit into his lower lip. “Touch me properly, Alexander,” he then said, making Alec lose the ability to breathe for a moment or so. With that kind of request, Alec felt his blood slowly flowing to the southern regions of his body and he cursed. There was no way that he’d be able to say no when Magnus begged like that. “Please,” whispered Magnus and moved his head up a little bit, darting his tongue out and he licked Alec’s lips.

“I, um,” stammered Alec and looked down. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to-”

“I’m hard,” said Magnus and laughed breathlessly. “And it’s all your fault so take responsibility for it,” joked Magnus, but then got serious because he could see that Alec wasn’t joking around and he bit into his lower lip, his body still shivering, squirming his legs together as the erection in his pants was starting to get uncomfortable and the need to touch it was slowly driving him mad. “Hey,” stammered Magnus and swallowed thickly. “Don’t stress it, if you feel like it’s too soon, then we shall wait,” he then quickly said and Alec quickly shook his head. It wasn’t too soon in his opinion.

“That’s not why I stopped,” stammered Alec, who was on the same page as Magnus. He didn’t really want to stop things. But then again, when he started explaining the situation to himself, he still wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. Not only because Magnus was in a recovery, but because they were in a hospital. And what if someone walked on them?! Alec’s face heated up and he then looked back down at Magnus’ face, who was patiently waiting for him to continue. “I want to continue. I really, _really_ want to, but we’re in the hospital and you’re in recovery and I don’t want to do something stupid that would-” started rambling Alec, but Magnus quieted him down with a kiss, because he didn’t want the moment to be over.

“Don’t feel your pretty little head with such worries, dear,” said Magnus, whose breath shook when he pulled away and he then grinned. “We won’t get caught. And about me being in recovery. Well,” said Magnus with a grin. “I think this would boost up my energy and give me new motivation for the therapy later on,” he then teased and waggled his eyebrows.

“You sure?” whispered Alec as he leaned back down.

“Oh yeah,” stammered Magnus and thanked the Gods that Alec finally stopped overthinking things as he kissed him hungrily again and placed the hand back on top of his chest and Magnus had to smile, because Alec was really careful, holding him gently, as if he was made out of porcelain. It was a new feeling on Magnus’ end, but he quite liked the attention and even though Alec’s kisses were at first very slow and innocent, they quickly grew much more than that, Magnus gasping and panting his lover’s name as they parted.

Alec slowly lifted Magnus’ arms above his head and then grinned when he felt Magnus running his fingers through his hair. Licking his lower lip, he gave Magnus one more kiss as his hand, which was still resting on Magnus’ chest, started drawing uneven patterns all over his chest and slowly started travelling lower, down to his stomach and Alec’s breath shook when he slowly removed the bedcovers and saw the very visible bulge in Magnus’ pants. He felt his own member twitching at the sight, but he ignored his own desires and focused on Magnus instead. As they exchanged a few more kisses, Alec lifted himself up a little, supporting himself on his elbow and Magnus slowly opened his eyes, which were glazed with pure hunger and lust. God, it’s been so long since someone was able to make him feel like that with just a simple touch.

“Magnus,” whispered Alec and bit into his lower lip, fingers going around one of the buttons on Magnus’ shirt and his eyes looked up, staring into Magnus’ beautiful ones. “Can I?” he then asked, undoing only one button and Magnus’ breath shuddered at that as he eagerly nodded.

“Yes, _please,_ ” said Magnus and his heart skipped a beat when Alec undid a few more buttons and then spread his shirt open a bit, revealing his bare chest, Alec’s eyes darkening with hunger and want. Magnus, on the other hand, grinned when he saw how fascinated Alec looked and threw his head into the pillow as Alec touched his bare chest with his warm fingers.

The detective undid Magnus’ shirt completely and swallowed thickly when he opened up the shirt a bit more and he couldn’t hold back a little moan, because _wow_. Magnus was beautiful, in every aspect. Alec noticed that Magnus’ body was scattered with many scars, his heart shaking and then he wasted no more time, leaning down and he kissed his way down from Magnus’ chest, down to his navel. He then darted his tongue out and slowly pressed a few sloppy kisses up to Magnus’ chest again, grinning when he looked at Magnus’ face. Magnus was a complete mess by then, who couldn’t form even a coherent sentence. He didn’t know when he became so sensitive, but just Alec licking him all over like that almost pushed him over the edge and he cursed when Alec pulled back and had that satisfied grin on his face. Magnus knew that Alec was being a tease and usually he’d love that, but not at that moment. He wanted Alec to hurry up, because if he wouldn’t, then he’d go mad by the need to be touched properly.

“Alexander, darling,” said Magnus. “I love you, but can you please hurry the fuck up?” he then asked and Alec’s grin widened, because Magnus sounded completely out of breath and his patience was paper thin, which was kind of refreshing to see. This side of Magnus was new to him; he was reduced to a begging and stuttering mess, which was lovely. Who knew that tables could be turned around so quickly?

“Yes, yes,” said Alec and kissed the tip of Magnus’ nose, before he slowly dipped his fingers inside of Magnus’ pants, the other one gasping loudly when he felt Alec’s fingers going around his hard member, throwing his head into the pillow. Alec, on the other hand, didn’t feel as confident as he did before and when the realisation of what he was really doing hit him, a blush spread across his face and he felt his heart hammering against his ribcage fast. But still, he wanted more. He wanted to _see_ more, so he slowly slid Magnus’ pants down, along with his underwear, Magnus hissing when his cock was finally freed from the constrictions of his pants. “I-is this okay?” asked Alec slowly as his fingers went around Magnus’ member again, grabbing the base of it steadily and his mouth watered when he saw that Magnus was already leaking precum.

“Yes, just like that,” urged him Magnus, who was completely lost in the pleasure that Alec’s hand was providing him with and he had to bite into his lower lip to prevent himself from moaning out too loudly. A smile of complete bliss spread across his face when Alec started slowly moving his hand, giving his cock a teasing squeeze at the tip, running his thumb over the slit, smearing the precum all over his length. “That’s it Alexander,” said Magnus, because he could tell that the other was having some doubts and when he said that, Alec got a bit bolder again, moving his hand in slow and lazy jerks.

“Feels good?” asked Alec and focused his gaze on Magnus, who just nodded and licked his lower lip, but said nothing more. Alec chuckled as he watched Magnus react to his touches, ignoring his own body's needs, he didn’t want to ruin such a perfect moment. He leaned closer to Magnus' face and kissed his cheek softly. “You are so cute,” he whispered into the other one’s ear, moving his hand faster.

Magnus shuddered when he felt Alec's hot breath against his cheek and he swallowed hard. He opened his eyes slightly and saw Alec's face, which was dark with hunger and need. When Alec started pumping him faster, Magnus' eyes closed again and a loud moan escaped his mouth. Magnus grabbed the collar of Alec’s shirt and pulled him down for a rough and sloppy kiss. Their tongues battled for dominance and it was a battle that Alec lost on purpose, allowing Magnus to devour him right in that spot as he continued twisting his wrist faster, pumping Magnus in fast jerks and by how much Magnus was throbbing in his palm, he knew that the other was probably very close. He squeezed his fist a bit and Magnus moaned lewdly into his mouth.

“Alexander, shit, I’m close,” stammered Magnus, the pleasure building up and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to last much longer. Slowly, he placed a hand over Alec’s wrist and instructed him how to move his hand, Alec finding that incredibly hot and he allowed Magnus to lead him and it didn’t take long for Magnus to be pushed over the edge. “Oh God, that’s it, I’m gonna come, Alec I can’t-” moaned Magnus, his moans sounding almost like sobs and Alec grinned.

“Then do it, come for me, Magnus,” whispered Alec into Magnus’ ear and that was when it was all too much for Magnus, his mind going completely blank when he was pushed over the edge, releasing his load all over Alec’s hand and his stomach, Alec moaning as well, not being able to help himself. Magnus experiencing sheer pleasure was a beautiful sight.

As Magnus was still coming down from the heights of his orgasm, Alec reached over to the nightstand and took a few wipes into his hand, wiping Magnus clean and for a few next moments all that could be heard in the room were Magnus’ loud pants. After a minute or so, Magnus’ breathless giggles filled the room and a shy smile spread across Alec’s face when Magnus pulled up his pants and underwear. While Alec’s body was still buzzing for release, he ignored that, because just knowing that he made Magnus feel good was enough for the time being. Magnus, on the other hand, was having a blast, not being able to stop smiling and grinning like an idiot.

“Wow,” said Magnus after a while and looked over at Alec, who was still laying down next to him. “This was… amazing, I mean,” started explaining Magnus again, but then stopped talking as laughter got the best of him and Alec only nodded, then scooted closer to him, draping an arm around Magnus, the other one going into the other’s hair and Magnus grinned when Alec started playing with his hair, letting out a little hum of approval.

“It really was,” whispered Alec and then smiled, kissing Magnus’ temples.

“Should I return the favour, dear?” asked Magnus.

“No, no, it’s okay,” said Alec and shook his head. “Some other time. For now, you should rest,” he then said and Magnus slowly nodded, because he was feeling pretty tired. Tired, but in a good way. Even though he felt kind of guilty he was the only one on the receiving end of pleasure, he promised to himself that he would return the favour some other day then.

Silence fell between the two of them again, but neither of them minded that too much. They enjoyed each other’s presence in complete silence, Magnus’ smile growing as Alec continued playing with his hair. Alec scooted even closer to Magnus - if that was even possible - and buried his face into the crook of his neck, pressing a few more kisses against Magnus’ neck. Magnus chuckled when he felt little kisses being scattered all over his neck and he let out a happy sigh. He loved the fact that Alec was a cuddler; Camille was never into cuddling, which had always bothered him. So, being held by Alec like that was definitely a new feeling, but he loved it and hoped that that feeling would never end.

Alec felt his heart swelling with happiness when Magnus slowly reached down with his hand and placed it on top of his, linking their fingers together, making Alec’s smile grow wider as well. They stayed like that, laying together on the same bed, cuddling until Catarina came into the room and announced that it was time for Magnus to start his therapy for that day, thus making the end of their sweet moment together. But when Magnus was done with doctors and therapies for that day, he went back to his room, where Alec was already waiting for him and all of his tiredness faded away in a blink of an eye.


	24. Chapter 24

''Magnus, now I'd like you to move your left leg up a little,'' said Catarina, who was working with Magnus that day. Magnus' usual doctor called in sick today, so she happily volunteered herself to be present with Magnus at his therapy session. From what Catarina could read from the records, Magnus was doing really great; he had already gained enough strength back in his arms, so that he could slowly work on getting back onto his legs. Magnus was currently sitting on the chair and he raised an eyebrow when Catarina said that, shaking his head. Up until that day, he never managed to move his legs. While it was true that he gained back movement in his upper body, his legs still weren't listening to him even though he was in physiotherapy for a month now. No matter what he did, his legs wouldn't listen to him and he wasn't optimistic that that time was going to be any different. He could try all he wanted, but it wasn't up to him. Or at least that was what he convinced himself to believe.

''Catarina, it's no use,'' said Magnus and bowed his head down, sighing and then took in a deep breath as he forced himself to look back up, knowing that Catarina was wearing her usual look of disapproval. Catarina didn't like people who gave up too soon – like Magnus was doing now – so she wasn't really impressed with what came out of Magnus' mouth. Usually, he was more optimistic and she really wasn't used to this side of her friend. However, she was as stubborn as Magnus and wasn't going to let the other one go off the hook just like that. She knew Magnus enough to know that he could try harder. Magnus wasn’t giving his all and she knew exactly why; he was scared. Terrified, probably, that he wouldn’t be able to move his legs despite trying his hardest.

“Now, now, Magnus,” she said and shook her head. “I know you can do it. You need to try _harder._ I know you aren’t giving your all. Maybe you were able to convince Bill otherwise, but I know you better than anyone here, so I know when you’re holding back. And currently, you are,” said Catarina and arched an eyebrow when Magnus was about to say something back as a protest, but then he closed his mouth, because he knew that Catarina was right.

It was true, he was holding back, because he was terrified. What if his best attempts weren’t going to be enough to regain movement in his legs? He knew that holding back wasn’t the correct answer to approach this situation; he’d never know if he wouldn’t try it. But at the same time, it was the easiest way out. He looked up at Catarina, trying to give her his best puppy-eyed look, but when she wouldn’t budge, he rolled his eyes and just shrugged. Catarina was a sweet and caring friend, but she had that tough love approach which Magnus admired.

“Fine, you’re right. I’m holding back,” said Magnus and placed his hands together in his lap, looking down onto the floor and just bit into his lower lip, allowing himself to take a few moments of silence. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “I’m scared, what if my best attempts won’t be enough? Then what?” he asked and looked up, Catarina giving him one of her warmest and kindest smiles.

“How will you know if you don’t try it?” asked Catarina and then went closer to Magnus, placing her hand on top of his shoulder. “Look, Magnus, I’m the doctor here and when I say that you have good chances of walking again, then believe it. But it’ll take you quite some time before you’ll be able to do it. Maybe your first attempt won’t go as you want. But, so what? Then we’ll try again. You can’t give up after the first attempt, or even worse, even before it,” she said and Magnus slowly nodded. “Now, come on. Try to move your left leg a little. You can try to lift it, whatever feels the easiest,” said Catarina and Magnus took in a deep breath, trying to chase his fear away by focusing on Alec.

“Right. Well, here goes nothing,” stammered Magnus and grabbed the edges of the chair he had been sitting on and took in a deep breath, trying to ignore his racing heart and mind. He then closed his eyes and clenched his jaw and focused on only one thing; moving one of his legs. If not the entire leg, then even just moving a foot a little would count as a massive improvement in his opinion. He put all of his the strength he could muster on moving his leg, but nothing happened, so he tried again and again. He focused so hard on moving his left leg that his breathing had gotten laboured and his entire body was heating up from how much he was straining his muscles and in the end when he couldn’t do it anymore, he stopped trying and he opened his eyes, looking up at Catarina, who looked concerned. “Nothing happened, did it?” asked Magnus with a little voice and when Catarina shook her head, his heart shattered. This was exactly what he was afraid of; nothing happened, even though he tried his best.

“No, I’m afraid not,” said Catarina and sighed, her heart getting heavy when she saw that Magnus started eating himself apart again and she quickly shook her head. “Don’t do this to yourself, Magnus,” said Catarina quickly and placed her hand on top of Magnus’ shoulder, who stiffened up, but said nothing as he was so focused on the previous failure, a knot forming in his stomach and he bit into his lower lip, trying to prevent it from trembling. “Come on, Magnus, let’s try it again.”

“No, there’s no use. I can’t do it,” said Magnus, feeling completely defeated. He had managed to gain back the strength he previously left, but even though he wasn’t feeling physically tired, emotionally he was drained and all that he wanted to do was to return back to his bed and spend the rest of the day there. He doubted that even a visit from Alec would cheer him up.

“What did I say previously? You can’t say that, you must tell yourself that you’re able to do it,” said Catarina, trying to give Magnus more will power. She knew that there was only so much that she could do, but it was really frustrating to see Magnus giving up so soon again. If she could, she would trade places with her friend and knowing that she couldn’t help him more than that, hurt her. Tears went to her eyes, but then she managed to swallow back her tears, because she knew that she needed to stay professional if she wanted to stay Magnus’ doctor for a little while.

“Cat-”

“No,” said Catarina and crossed her arms on top of her chest. “Try it again. Get angry if you think it’ll help you. Just find _something_ and focus on that. Prove it to yourself that you’re wrong,” said Catarina and Magnus swallowed thickly as his throat had gotten really dry and he nodded, deciding to listen to her friend.

Magnus closed his eyes again and started thinking. The wish to walk again was so strong that he could almost grab it, yet it was so away from his reach. Not walking again was something that he couldn’t afford having, so if he wouldn’t do it for himself, then he needed to do it for other people. A lot of people were counting on him and he knew that very well, the main one being Alec. Sure, he could have a lovely future with him even without walking ever again, but deep inside, he was sure that he would become a burden to Alec at some point, even though he knew that wasn’t true. But he needed _something_ that would give him that will power back and he knew that he hit the bull’s eye, feeling his will power returning, so he decided to try again.

Keeping his eyes closed, Magnus grabbed the edges of the chair again and focused on moving his legs, straining all of his muscles. His knuckles were white to the bone from how much he was gripping onto that chair and Catarina’s eyes widened when she watched her friend and hoped for the best. Magnus’ breathing had gotten laboured and his entire body was shaking, droplets of sweat gathering on top of his forehead as he was struggling to move his legs. Catarina looked down and placed a hand on top of her mouth, at that time almost praying that Magnus would be able to make some progress. She knew that if he wouldn’t be able to do it, then he’d hit a new low and that was something that Catarina couldn’t have happening.

As Magnus kept trying for a few minutes, his body was getting exhausted, but that time, he didn’t give up, his mind focused on Alec and their future together. He wanted them to have the best possible future together. Magnus already knew that they were meant to spend their whole lives together and when the idea of _walking_ down the aisle as their wedding day would come, something inside of him snapped and he could finally feel something in his legs. Usually, he’d feel them if someone would touch his legs, but this time it was different. He could feel his legs without touching them and he almost smiled, because then he knew that he’d be able to do it. With the little strength that he still had, he tried to lift his left leg, Catarina letting out a small gasp when Magnus moved his leg. Well, he managed to move only his foot, but that was better than nothing.

“That’s it,” said Catarina, overjoyed and Magnus quickly opened his eyes, a tired smile spreading across his face and he then looked down, his eyes widening as he moved his foot again and he bit into his lower lip. He then looked over to his right leg and tried moving that foot as well, tears of happiness going to his eyes when he managed to move that foot as well and he covered his mouth with his hand.

“I managed to do it!” exclaimed Magnus happily and then collapsed back against the chair, completely exhausted. The adrenaline left his body and now he felt very, very tired, but overjoyed at the same time. He didn’t want to let the tears fall, but as he looked up at his friend, whose face was already wet with tears, he couldn’t really help himself, letting out a loud gasp as Catarina leaned down and gave him a tight hug.

“I knew you would be able to do it,” said Catarina and pressed a very quick kiss on top of Magnus’ head and then straightened herself up, wiping the tears away and then she gave her friend a wide smile. “I never doubted you, Magnus.”

“Well, if it weren’t for you,” started Magnus, but then his voice trailed off when Catarina shook her head.

“This was all you. All I needed was to push the correct buttons, that’s all,” said Catarina and Magnus gave her a little nod and then leaned his head back against the chair, his entire body going limp and he wished to return back to his bed and rest for a little while. However, his spirits were up and if Catarina wished to do some more progress, then he was all in it. “Now then, I think you tired yourself out enough for today. Let’s get you back to bed,” said Catarina and Magnus shrugged.

“We could continue trying if you want. I feel invincible now,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows.

“That I know you do,” said Catarina and laughed softly, but then shook her head. “You mustn’t overdo it, you need to listen to your body and right now I can quite clearly see that it’s practically yelling at you to go rest,” said the doctor and then grinned. “Plus, I think your boyfriend would kill me if I pushed you any further than this,” she then said in amusement and Magnus grinned.

“True,” said Magnus, his grin widening as he remembered how overprotective Alec was of him, but he didn’t mind it one bit. After a few more moments of chatting with Catarina, Catarina took Magnus back to his room.

* * *

“Alexander, is something wrong?” asked Magnus. Alec was currently on a visit and Magnus was overjoyed when his boyfriend came, ready to share his good news with him. However, he decided to hold himself back from telling him that, because Alec looked somehow distant that day. They were chatting about random things and even though Alec was technically present there with him, he could easily tell that something was on Alec’s mind and was preventing him from properly focusing on their conversation.

It was true, a lot was on Alec’s mind. He finally decided to pay his mother a visit, because he needed to know what happened, completely shocked when he heard that his parents got divorced. While his mother had gotten the custody over Max and was now living alone, dating Luke, Robert was out of the country, doing only God knows what. That angered Alec, because he didn’t know why his dad was acting that way; it was really out of his character. Maryse, on the other hand, seemed to be taking things quite okay. She was a strong woman, so of course she didn’t let that bother her, but she seemed _different,_ in a good way. She looked happy and it’s been a while since Alec saw a proper smile on his mother’s face.

However, while Maryse seemed to be taking the divorce well, Max wasn’t. Once an outgoing boy was now completely silent and even though he never really said anything, Alec could see darkness, pain and deep sadness in his eyes. When Alec decided to have a little talk with his little brother, the poor boy finally let loose of his self-control and broke down in front of his older brother, Alec’s heart swelling with pain and guilt. If only he hadn’t cut ties with his family, then he could’ve prevented Max from suffering. And the fact that Max was blaming him and Izzy wasn’t really hidden; the boy himself begged him to return back home and that left Alec feeling like a piece of shit.

After his falling out with his mom and dad and his previous break up, he had completely closed off from Max and didn’t even consider his feelings. When Max asked him if he did something wrong, Alec’s heart broke and he left his mom’s place with a promise to come and visit them more. While Maryse believed him and was happy about that, Max didn’t believe him. When he watched Alec leave, he was sure that he was leaving for good. In his opinion, all adults were liars. Once he believed that his brother and sister were different, but they proved him wrong; when he needed them the most they weren’t there for him.

“Alexander,” said Magnus again and Alec finally snapped out of day dreaming and looked up at Magnus, who was now wearing a concerned look on his face and he looked down, sighing.

“Sorry,” stammered Alec and took in a deep breath. “I just, um, have a lot on my mind. But it’s nothing serious, so you shouldn’t worry about it,” said Alec after a while and then forced himself to push the negative thoughts away and he looked at Magnus, not wanting to bring more negative energy around Magnus. However, the damage was already done and he knew that he would have to do quite some explaining to Magnus, because the other wasn’t ready to let the matter go so easily.

“It sure doesn’t look like it’s nothing serious,” said Magnus softly and straightened himself up a little bit and then frowned when he saw Alec looking away, guilt setting back into the detective’s heart as he could only focus on Max. Biting into his lower lip, Alec placed his hands on top of his knees, Magnus placing his own hand over Alec’s, making the younger one look up at him with a questionable look. “Talk to me,” said Magnus softly and wrapped his fingers around Alec’s hand, holding it tightly and Alec felt his heart dropping. “It’s obvious you’re not okay. What happened?”

“I just don’t want burden you with my stuff when you’re the one who’s-”

“Alexander, I would be offended if you wouldn’t share what’s going on in your life,” said Magnus, his hold around Alec’s hand tightening and he then sighed softly. “You know you can tell me everything. I know that you know by now that holding things in isn’t going to bring you anywhere, especially when you’re with me,” he then added and gave Alec a soft smile, who just chuckled and in the end nodded, because he knew that Magnus deserved to know the truth.

“It’s about my parents,” started Alec and cleared his throat, Magnus perking up when Alec’s parents were mentioned. Up until then, the detective rarely mentioned them, so he knew that something serious must’ve been going on for Alec to bring them up in a conversation. “They, um, they got divorced,” stated Alec and then made a short pause, Magnus giving him a compassionate look, understanding that it must’ve been difficult on Alec to accept that. “But that isn’t the main reason why I’m feeling down. My mom and dad, they never really got along. On the outside they appeared to be perfect couple, but they weren’t. There were always fights and they were always so cold to each other. And just recently I found out that my dad was cheating on my mom for a long time,” stated Alec and Magnus tensed up; he all too well understood the feeling. “So they got a divorce. What’s really bizarre is the fact that my mom is now dating Luke, my boss.”

“Clary’s step father?” asked Magnus and Alec nodded. “Aw, Biscuit is now gonna be your sister,” teased Magnus ,trying to make the situation lighter, but all that he received as an response from Alec was an eye roll, so that told him to stop joking around and he quickly looked down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make fun of the situation. I just-”

“No, it’s okay,” said Alec softly and made a short pause. “That’s…. something that I need to get comfortable with too, so yeah,” he stammered and then licked his lower lip, feeling his throat closing up when he thought about Max again. “That’s not even the problem,” he said and then looked at Magnus, who was now puzzled.

“Then what’s the matter, angel?”

“I, um, I haven’t told you this, but besides Izzy, I have another sibling. A younger brother, he’s name is Max and he’s 10,” stammered Alec and then made a short pause, Magnus remembering that he saw the boy’s picture when he was going through Alec’s album a while back. “I… I mean, he’s been put through a lot,” whispered Alec and dropped his head down as guilt started eating him apart again. “When I cut all my ties with my family… it’s because when I came out, my parents were anything but supportive, so I decided to leave home and never return back. But in doing that, I was so selfish that I didn’t think about Max’s feelings as well,” whispered Alec and placed a hand on top of his mouth to even out his breathing. “I went to visit my mom the other day and saw Max too. He’s grown up so much and I haven’t been there for him. Our parents got divorced and he had to go through this all alone. I’ve abandoned my little brother when he needed me the most and I… I’m a terrible human being and a horrible brother. I shouldn’t-”

“Alexander, you didn’t know,” whispered Magnus and scooted as close to Alec as he could, biting into his lower lip, his heart breaking when he saw the troubled expression on Alec’s face, twisted in pain and guilt. “You shouldn’t blame yourself. Your parents treated you horrible when you came out, so of course you needed to get away from that toxic place and-”

“Yes, but it was a selfish thing to do, Magnus!” said Alec, his voice louder and Magnus flinched, but didn’t back away. He knew that Alec wasn’t angry with him; he was angry with himself. “I took the easiest way out. You should’ve seen Max, he was devastated. Also, he blames me as well for leaving him. He told me that I’m a horrible brother and I can’t argue with that because it’s true. I-”

“Alexander,” whispered Magnus and sighed. “You can’t change the past, you did what you thought was best for you,” said Magnus and made a short pause, Alec looking up at him. Magnus then brought his hand up and cupped Alec’s face. “But you can change the future. Be there for him now, Alec. As you said, he needs you, so show him that you’re still the older brother he can count on. He might take a while to forgive you, but I’m sure he’ll come around. If you want, you can bring him here and introduce us. I’d love to meet the little guy,” he said, because Magnus loved children. “Just... Don’t focus on the past, that won’t bring you anywhere.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said Alec and shrugged, not really knowing that to think at that point. Sure, he thought he was doing the best after he distanced himself from his family, but at what cost? Just as he was about to give into his dark thoughts again, Magnus tapped his shoulder and prevented him from doing just that.

“Of course I’m right,” said Magnus and grinned. “Worry not, everything’ll turn out great,” he said and then remembered his own good news. He wasted no more time and he quickly pulled up the blanket enough to uncover his feet and Alec arched an eyebrow. “Alexander, I have some good news to cheer you up,” he then said and Alec’s eyes widened when he saw Magnus moving his feet, all of his previous worries vanishing into thin air.

“Did you just-”

“Yes! Today I made progress and finally-” started explaining Magnus, but was cut off when Alec grabbed the back of his neck and pressed their lips together.

“Congratulations,” said Alec as he kissed his boyfriend again, Magnus chuckling when Alec’s strong arms went around him. “I’m so proud of you,” he then added and Magnus grinned.

“So am I,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows as Alec pulled back. “I was a good boy, wasn’t I? And for that I deserve a reward, don’t you agree?” asked Magnus, closing his eyes and puckering his lips, Alec shaking his head with a smile on his face and he just nodded in the end, leaning down to give Magnus his reward, kissing him softly.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A much earlier update this time! :D 
> 
> I was planning on waiting for a few days, but since I've finished writing the 26th chapter today, I decided to went ahead and publish this one today ;) I hope you're going to enjoy it ^^

''Alec, I have wonderful news,'' said Isabelle, who was currently over at Alec's, apparently having something to tell him that she just needed to say it in person. Because Magnus was busy with his therapy, Alec didn't want to be a bother, so he decided to spend some much needed time at his apartment. These days, he was rarely there and he didn't even realise how much he missed some peace and quiet. However, he was disturbed from his little slumber when Isabelle announced that she was coming over and Alec really didn't have the heart to tell his sister that he wasn't in the mood for company, especially when she sounded so excited.

''Really?'' asked Alec, who carried two empty glasses into the living room and placed them onto the coffee table. Before his sister was able to reply, he disappeared back into the kitchen, only to return a second later with two beer bottles and he placed both of them next to the glasses, sitting next to Isabelle and he then rubbed his palms together, a little smile spreading across his face. ''Well, do tell what’s going on, Iz,'' said Alec, this time giving all of his attention to Isabelle, because he wanted to show her that he cared, because he did.

''Okay,'' said Isabelle and took a few moments of silence to collect herself, because she had a feeling as if she was about to pass out what she was about to say out loud. During the few weeks that she spent working with Ragnor, the designer grew to like her so much that he decided to offer her a spot at his own company. Before, Isabelle was an independent designer, which offered her freedom, but lacked exposure. Here and there she would get an opportunity to work with a bigger company, but those kinds of opportunities were very rare. So, getting a regular spot at such a big company as Ragnor's, was not only her dream, but it also opened more windows and paths in the fashion world to work with bigger brands and more known names. Sure, being famous wasn't everything that young Isabelle cared for, but it sure didn't hurt being a bit more well-known as well. It was true that she could easily get more fame with the help of her family's help and money, but she wanted to do something on her own. ''So, remember how I got a chance to work on a clothing line with Ragnor Fell?'' asked Isabelle.

“Yeah, how could I forget?” asked Alec and chuckled. “That was one of the most important things in your career,” he then added, because there was no way that he could forget. That, plus he heard many stories about Isabelle that Ragnor told to Magnus; apparently, she was quite the klutz as she was working with Magnus' friend, which entertained Alec to the fullest; usually, he was the one who was uncollected in social situations, so it was fun to hear that there were situations when Isabelle didn't have all of her shit together as well.

“Well,” went on by saying the girl and clasped her hands together. “Ragnor said that he enjoyed working with me the past few weeks so much that he offered me a regular spot at his company,” blurted out Isabelle and then covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes widening. Even now that she said it out loud, it still felt so surreal and she was sure that she was still just dreaming. To have her idol offer her a job at his company was such an honour. As soon as she said that, Alec's eyes widened as well, but soon after that, a huge smile spread across his face and he looked at his little sister with pride in his eyes.

“That's amazing,” said Alec happily and scooted closer to his sister, placing his hand on top of her head and then, just like when they were children, ruffled her hair, messing her perfect hairdo on purpose, but this time she didn't complain. Instead, she just giggled and then leaned over to Alec, sighing happily and Alec just beamed proudly. “I knew Ragnor was going to like your designs and working with you,” he said and then sighed happily. “I'm very proud of you, Iz. You came so far,” he then added and Isabelle only shrugged, but was happy as well.

“Couldn't have done it without your support, big brother,” said Isabelle happily and bit into his lower lip, because it was true. If Alec wasn't there to support her in her early years, then she would have never be able to get where she was today. Maybe Alec himself didn't realise it, but he had done a lot for her and she was going to be forever grateful for that.

“Oh, I don’t know if I did much,” said Alec and then shrugged.

“But you did,” said Isabelle and then leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes, only to open them a second later and then took in a deep breath. “Especially when mom wouldn’t allow me to pursue my dreams as a fashion designer. Remember what she said?” asked Isabelle and shuddered when she remember how much Maryse – and Robert – were mad at Isabelle for not continuing the family tradition of owning hotels. They were already angry with Alec for refusing to do so, but at least being a detective was somehow useful to the society in their opinion. Now, a fashion designer, was a complete waste of talent and time, in Robert’s and Maryse’s opinion. “She said that I was just wasting my talent and that I would never go anywhere with this type of career. Well, if she only saw me now,” said Izzy and then grinned, because she was happy that she had proved her mom wrong.

“Speaking about mom,” suddenly said Alec, because he still didn’t tell Isabelle about how his visit went the previous week. As he mentioned that, Isabelle looked at him and arched an eyebrow, because she knew about the visit, yet she didn’t really ask too many questions about it, because Alec looked kind of down afterwards it. “I paid her a visit last week, as I’ve said that I will,” added Alec and Isabelle nodded, turning to Alec then, because she was curious to hear how the visit went. It’s been a while since she had last spoken with their mother.

“How did it go?”

“Well,” started Alec and felt guilt setting into his heart once again when he remembered Max and he puffed his cheeks, rubbing his palms together. “Mom’s doing great. She seems a lot happier than before when she was still with dad. It seems like Luke is treating her way nicer and I can only hope that she’s going the same,” said Alec, Isabelle nodding. Even though she didn’t have a close relationship with their mother, she was still happy to hear that she was doing good and wished her the best. “However,” said Alec, his voice strained and Isabelle straightened herself. “While mom is doing great, Max is, well, um… to simply put it, he’s miserable,” said Alec and looked down, his shoulders slumping and he felt guilt setting in again. While Magnus told him that he shouldn’t feel guilty, he did. There was no way around it; both, he and Isabelle, left Max all alone in that toxic environment.

“What?” stammered Isabelle, who was visibly shook and she frowned. “But, he was always so happy and didn’t let anything bother him. I can remember, even when mom and dad would fight, he didn’t let that bother him. Even after you left home, he seemed fine,” said Isabelle and then pressed her lips together. “While it’s true that I haven’t talked to him in months, I thought that he-”

“It was just a mask he put on, Izzy,” said Alec and placed his palms together in his lap. “He might’ve been okay while you were still living at home, but after you… after both of us _left_ home, things started going south,” said Alec and gritted his teeth. “He told me so himself. He said that he was pretending to be okay for mom, he didn’t want to cause her any worries, because he knew what was going on between her and dad,” said Alec and Isabelle’s eyes widened when she heard that. “He broke down in front of me and accused both me and you for leaving him,” said Alec and made a short pause, feeling a knot forming in his stomach. “He’s angry at us and I can’t blame him, because no matter how you look at it, we both just left him. Without really saying a proper good bye. Sure, we called him a few times and went over for his birthdays, but that’s really _it._ We weren’t there for him when he needed us the most. Sure, we needed to get away from home because it was tough, but at what cost, Izzy?”

Isabelle was completely silent after she heard all of that and even then realised how selfish she was as well. Up until then, Max didn’t even cross her mind; she was so focused on herself and her own happiness and career that she didn’t even consider how her little brother must’ve felt when she and Alec walked out of his life. Just like Alec said, a few calls a month were nothing and in those calls, Max appeared and sounded completely normal. And if she knew what was going on – the divorce – she would have called home more. She would be there for Max. Her heart twisted in pain when she realised how selfish she was and when she looked up at Alec, her eyes were full of worry and regret.

“You’re right,” stammered the girl and then looked back down, swallowing back her sadness and then puffed her cheeks, trying to not the emotions get to her, because she really didn’t want to cry. But when she thought about just how lonely and sad poor Max must’ve felt all those months, she couldn’t really help herself and she quickly shook her head, trying to push away the negative feelings. “We have both failed him,” she then said and her words had such an impact on Alec and he just nodded and bowed his head down, tears going to his eyes, but he wouldn’t let them fall.

“He looked so… tired,” said Alec and looked down. “No 10 year old should look and feel that way,” he then added ran fingers through his hair, trying to even out his breathing. “He hates us, Iz,” he then added and Isabelle’s lower lip started shaking as well. Isabelle wanted to say something back in protest, trying to justify that it wasn’t their fault, but who the hell was she kidding? Of course it was!

''I don't really blame Max if he hates us,'' said Isabelle and took in a deep breath. She loved her little brother very much, so it saddened her to know that he came to hate her now. But at the same time, she didn't blame him. Izzy wanted to be a part of Max's life again, but it would probably take a lot of time and a lot of apologies for the boy to accept both her and Alec back. When she thought about the fact that Max was all alone when the divorce was going on, her heart twisted in pain and she just bit into her lower lip, but didn't say anything anymore. There was no reason that would justify her and her brother's actions.

“Yeah, neither do I,” said Alec and made a short pause and crossed his arms on top of his chest. He had called Maryse earlier that day and asked her if it was okay for him to go pick Max up from school and spend some time with him. Because Maryse was working late that day, his proposition came in at a perfect time, because she really didn't like leaving Max with a nanny. Knowing that he would be with his brother made her feel at ease, so she was more than happy about the news. Because she agreed to it, Alec decided to plan the whole day; he had planned a lot of fun things to do. First, he would take Max out for a lunch at his favourite place. Then, they would go watch a movie and at the end of the day, he would buy Max an ice cream, since little Max was a sweet tooth and usually couldn't resist sweet things. Usually that would be enough to bribe the boy into forgiveness, but Alec knew that this time it wouldn't be so easy. He considered taking Max to the hospital and introducing Magnus to him, but then he decided that it was still too soon. Besides, Max would probably prefer spending time with him and not Magnus, who was still just a stranger to him. “Izzy, do you have any plans for the rest of the day?” asked Alec suddenly and Isabelle looked up at him, shaking her head.

“No, I'm free for the day. Want me to go visit Magnus with you?” asked Isabelle.

“Not really. I called mom and asked her if it was okay if I go pick up Max from school and she agreed that I can spend the day with him, because she's working late today,” said Alec and made a short pause, seeing that Isabelle tensed when their mother was mentioned. “So, if you want to tag along with me and Max, you're more than welcome to.”

“Yes, of course,” said Isabelle, not even thinking about it two times.

“Great,” said Alec and then bit into his lower lip. “Just hope that Max won't freak out too much, because he has no ideas about my plans. I asked mom to keep it as a secret because I wanted to surprise him,” he then quickly added and Isabelle only nodded, wishing herself and Alec luck, hoping that Max was going to find a way to forgive them.

* * *

“Max, over here!” yelled out Isabelle. She and Alec were standing at the entrance of Max's school and as soon as Isabelle saw Max stepping out of the school, she walked over at him. The boy was expecting his mother or one of his nannies to come and pick him up, but when he saw none of them, he was confused and somehow sad. He worried that his mother forgot about him, but then just like that, someone yelled out his name. The boy looked up and his eyes widened when he saw his two siblings standing there. Alec was standing at the fence, while his sister was walking closer to him and the boy was so overwhelmed that he didn't know what to do with himself. A part of him wanted to run away in anger, but he couldn't move. Alec promised him the other day that he was going to come back, but Max didn't believe him. Alec often said that, but his promise was always broken. However, now that he saw that Alec – and Isabelle – were keeping their promise, he was overjoyed. Yes, he was still angry with both of them for leaving, but just for a moment all of the feelings of hatred were forgotten and he literally ran into his sister's embrace.

“Izzy, Alec!” yelled out Max on top of his lungs and then ran to Isabelle with his arms wide open. Isabelle wasn't expecting a hug so soon, but it was a good surprise and when Max was close enough, she leaned down and then gave her brother a hug, lifting him up in the air, spinning around a few times with her little brother in his arms, who was giggling and she just smiled; God, he had gotten much taller since she last saw him! With a smile on his face, Alec walked closer to the other two and placed his hand on top of Max's head when Isabelle placed him back onto the floor and gently ruffled his hair.

“You've grew up so much,” said Isabelle and Max proudly nodded, because it was true. During the past few months he had gotten much taller – finally – and wasn't the shortest boy in their class anymore.

“What are you two doing here?” asked Max, still happy, but his smile disappeared a little, only to re-appear when he looked over at Alec.

“I made a promise to you last week, didn't I?” asked Alec with a little smile and leaned down, so that he was closer to Max and let out a sigh. “Like I promised I want to spend more time with you, so here I am. And so is Izzy,” he then quickly added, Max's big eyes literally glowing with happiness and he quickly nodded.

“I didn't think you'd keep your promise,” stammered Max and Alec pressed his lips together.

“I know I made you a lot of promises in the past that I didn't keep, but I'm going to keep this one,” said Alec quickly and little Max quickly nodded, because now he finally believed Alec. “I meant what I said earlier, I'm really sorry for leaving and so is Isabelle, we didn't-”

“I'm so sorry,” said Isabelle interrupting Alec, but Max only shrugged.

“It's okay,” said Max, because he really wasn't in the mood to be talking about that. Yes, both of them hurt him, but at the same time, he didn't want to waste a moment with the two of them with talking about what happened in the past. Some day they would have to talk about it, but Max decided that it wasn't going to be that way, because he was in a good mood and didn't want to ruin it. “I forgive you,” he quickly said and Isabelle frowned. Just as she was about to say something, Max spoke again and Izzy quickly closed her mouth. “I don't want to talk about that right now,” he quickly stammered and Alec quickly nodded, Isabelle deciding to respect the boy's wishes as well, even though she wanted to properly talk to Max about the past months. However, at the same time, she understood him. It was still too early, in a way.

“Very well then, young man,” said Isabelle and ruffled Max's hair, then straightened herself and looked over at Alec.

“Now then,” said Alec and rubbed his palms together. “Are you hungry, Max? I was thinking that we could go grab something to eat at the usual place,” said the detective and Max's eyes widened in excitement, quickly nodding, because he wanted to go. First of all, he was starving. And second, a lunch with his brother and sister at his favourite place sounded more than perfect.

“Really?” asked Max and quickly nodded happily. “Yes, I wanna go!”

“And when, we could go watch something in the cinema?” asked Isabelle, Max giving them a puzzled look.

“Seriously?” asked the boy, overjoyed, because it's been a while since he had been to the cinema. Not only that, but Alec and Izzy were planning to stick around for the whole day?! That made him even happier. “You won't take me home?”

“We will, but not yet,” said Alec and waggled his eyebrows. “The day's still young,” he then quickly added and smiled when Max giggled. “I called mom earlier and she said that she's working late today. So, you're spending the whole day with us, isn't that right, Iz?”

“Yeah,” said Isabelle happily and Max let out a happy sigh.

“Cool!” said Max happily and then followed Alec and Isabelle to the car. “Today is gonna be the best day ever!” he cheered on the way, Alec and Isabelle looking at each other. Both of them were still worried about Max, but for the time being, it was enough to see him smile. Because he was excited, both of them were happy as well.

After the meal, the trio went to the cinema, as promised, and Max picked the movie they watched. It was an action movie about superheroes and while Izzy and Max seemed to be into it, Alec didn't care much about it. However, he didn't really complain and kept texting Magnus throughout the entire movie, telling him that he probably wasn't going to pay him a visit that day. While Magnus was disappointed at first that quickly disappeared when he learned that Alec was spending some much needed quality time with his little brother. He was more than happy to hear that Max appeared to be happy and having time, Alec promising him to introduce Max to him as soon as possible.

When the movie was over, the trio went to a cafe, Alec buying Max the biggest slice of chocolate cake, Isabelle then buying their brother a scoop of vanilla ice cream and their fun continued long into the evening as well.


	26. Chapter 26

It was a lazy Saturday evening and Alec had just gotten home from the visit at the hospital. A few days ago, Alec took Max to meet Magnus and even though the boy was timid at first, the two of them got along pretty well almost right away. It wasn’t really a surprise to be honest; Magnus loved children and there was nothing to dislike about Magnus, in Alec’s humble opinion. Little Max seemed to be of the same opinion, because on their way back home, Max kept asking over and over again if they could go visit Magnus soon, Alec promising him that he’d take him to his boyfriend as soon as it was possible, having a smile on his face. He, Isabelle and Max had a talk a few days ago and the three of them talked out their differences, their little brother forgiving them for walking out of his life once before. Max had his doubts at first, but now that Izzy and Alec were almost every day with him, he believed in his older siblings once again.

That was one more reason to be happy about. Everything seemed to be going perfect; Max forgave him, Max and Magnus were getting along and most importantly, Alec’s and Magnus’ relationship was better than ever. Also, Magnus’ condition had been gradually getting better. Even though he couldn’t walk quite yet, he was moving both of his legs and had even gotten into standing position with a little bit of help. That cheered Alec up more than ever and he was happy that he was able to be there for Magnus, because he knew that his boyfriend needed him and he was ready to offer everything that he had for him.

A little chuckle escaped Alec’s mouth as he walked inside of his apartment, took off his jacket and then wasted no time to lay down. He threw himself onto the sofa and a loud gasp of comfort left his mouth. He had a lot of fun that day; spending a few hours over at Maryse’s and then he was on his way to the hospital, where he helped Magnus with his therapy since it was Saturday and not many doctors were present there. At first, Alec didn’t know what he was doing, but he made sure that Catarina taught him some basics, so that he could help Magnus out when the time was right. While it was fun helping Magnus with his therapy, it was also very tiring, since he was constantly nervous as he didn’t want to mess something up.

But, everything went soothingly, Alec’s heart fastening when he remembered how Magnus stood up on his legs, which was all thanks to him and he then grinned. He felt fulfilled, but at the same time, he was beyond tired; it’s been a long day. So, having the rest of the day for himself was more than lovely. He considered spending the night at the hospital, but Magnus was really tired that day as well from all the workout he and Alec did, some being more productive than the other, so he was fast asleep that night. Because Alec didn’t want to be a bother, he came to a compromise that the best thing was to go back home. Also, he kind of missed sleeping in his own bed.

With Magnus on his mind and a smile on his face, Alec felt his eyelids getting heavy and he yawned, rubbing his tired eyes. He knew that he should probably call it a day as well, but he really didn’t feel like standing up, so he decided that it was completely okay to get a little nap on the couch before heading off to bed. However, just as he was about to fall asleep, there was an annoying knock at the door and Alec groaned as he opened his eyes and turned onto his side, hoping that whoever was knocking would go away. But, of course, he had no such luck and the persistent knocking only got louder as more minutes passed, Alec finally deciding to go see who was disturbing his peace. Annoyed, Alec got onto his legs and walked over to the door, unlocking it and opening it wide.

“What do you want?” asked Alec, annoyed and didn’t even bother hiding his grumpiness. He didn’t care who it was at the door, but nothing could really prepare him for what he saw when he opened the door. Alec’s stomach dropped when he saw the person standing in front of him, his eyes going wide and he quickly made a step back when the person turned to him and flashed him one of his widest smiles, which would probably make Alec melt in the past. However, now the only thing that he felt was coldness and hatred. The person standing outside his apartment, was no other than his ex-boyfriend, Chris.

“That’s no way to greet people, babe,” said the older man and as he made a step closer to Alec, the other automatically stepped back, the furrow in between his eyebrows deepening. The detective didn’t know what to think or do really. Seeing Chris there confused him and he had so many questions, but he decided to keep his mouth shut, until he’d collect his racing mind enough. It’s been so long since he had last seen the other, the last time being on the night of their breakup. Since then, he hadn’t seen him in person and kind of hoped that he wouldn’t have to face him in person once again, because he really didn’t know what he’d do with himself. “Happy to see me?”

“ _You_ ,” stammered Alec and as Chris wanted to step inside of his apartment, Alec blocked his way. There was no way that he was letting him go inside. “What are you doing here?” asked Alec then, trying not to sound too flustered, but he was, because Chris’ sudden visit made no sense and Alec couldn’t really think straight when he saw that annoying, cocky smile on the other’s face. God, all that he wanted to do was to wipe it off his face. He had a few tricks up his sleeve that would make Chris grinning for good and-

“I missed you, so I came to see how you’re doing. I see you still live here, huh?” asked Chris and winked, Alec giving him an unamused look, crossing his arms on top of his chest. “Come on, let me inside, it’s been so long since I last saw you,” tried Chris again, surprised to see that his usual flirting wasn’t really working on Alec again. Usually, it would work, but he wasn’t ready to give up so soon. “Don’t tell me you haven’t missed me, babe,” said Chris and as he want to grab Alec’s hand, the younger one only shoved him away.

“Don’t call me _babe_ ,” growled Alec, clenching his jaw and was slowly getting angry. He couldn’t believe that Chris had the decency to waltz back into his life and expect that things were how they used to. Seriously, did he really expect that he’d take him back after what he did to him? Honestly, even Chris couldn’t be that dumb, could he? “And for the record, no I haven’t missed you. You haven’t even crossed my mind,” he added. “I managed to successfully burn all memories about you out of my mind,” said Alec and arched an eyebrow.

“Come on, don’t be like that,” said Chris and licked his lower lip. “Also, don’t forget that this is my place as well, so technically I can come over whenever I want,” added Chris cockily and Alec felt his blood boil with anger at that point and he quickly shook his head.

“No, no, no, we aren’t having this discussion again,” said Alec angrily. “ _I_ bought this apartment. With my money, you didn’t contribute even a penny, which I didn’t mind back then. But don’t you dare to claim something that’s not true,” said the detective and with that wiped Chris’ cocky smirk off his face and that kind of made Alec feel better. Usually, it was the other way; it was Chris that was able to make him crumble apart, yet nothing seemed to phase the other. However, Alec was now a changed man. He knew Chris well enough to know when he was losing, which was happening right at that moment.

“But, babe, this apartment was a sign of our love and-”

“Love?!” asked Alec dumbfounded. “What love are you exactly talking about, Chris?” snapped Alec and grabbed the collar of Chris’ shirt, clenching his jaw. “The only one who was in love was _me_. You were only after my money. Your words, not mine, remember?” asked Alec and then released Chris from his hold, his heart hammering against his ribcage and if looks could kill, Chris would drop dead on the floor right in that exact moment.

“I made a mistake,” said Chris quickly and Alec gave him an odd look. He knew that Chris was only lying, but was interested to see where Chris was going with that. “I made a big mistake that I let you go. But you know, I did love you and I still do. So if we can only talk about things, then maybe we could go back to what we used to have.”

“Excuse me, what?” asked Alec and shook his head. “What we used to have was all based on lies! None of that was real to you, so please, do us both a favour and just scram. Also, for your information, I’m already seeing someone else. Someone who actually loves me and isn’t full of lies like you were. Just,” said Alec and made a short pause, trying to even out his breathing. Yes, he was mad, but he didn’t want to let Chris see that he still had such power over him to lose his shit. In the past, Alec’s heart would twist in pain if he’d only seen Chris’ picture, but now seeing him in person just left him with a burning desire to kick Chris’ ass. “Get the hell out.”

“Baby, don’t do this to us!” said Chris and placed a hand on top of his heart, Alec almost laughing out loud, shaking his head.

“ _Us?_ There’s no ‘us’, Chris. Not anymore,” said Alec and huffed under his breath. “You blew it, so just go. Please… go,” said Alec, calmer this time. He wasn’t buying Chris’ lies again, but he wasn’t in the mood to be fighting again. However, if Chris wasn’t taking a no as an answer, then Alec was going to get more aggressive.

“Fine, fine,” said Chris and looked down, sighing and Alec placed his hands down, stepping inside of his apartment. “Look, Alec, I just… I messed up, I know, okay?” said the other and Alec slowly nodded, but stayed silent, still vary of him. Chris was full of excuses, so no matter what he said, Alec wasn’t going to fall for his sweet words of apology. “Yeah, we can’t go back to what we used to have, because I hurt you. All of that’s true, but can’t we at least try to be friends?” tried Chris again and Alec shook his head,

“No.”

“But, Alec, I-”

“My answer’s no,” said Alec. “I accept your apology, but I don’t want to be your friend. I don’t want you back in my life, I’ve just gotten back onto my feet and I really don’t want a toxic person like you back, not even as a friend. No, you caused me too much pain and I don’t want to be reminded of that every time I see you,” said the detective, softly this time, hoping that Chris would finally get it through that thick skull of his. But just as Alec thought, Chris had an ulterior motive to be there and wasn’t going to back down just yet.

“Alec, please don’t be like this. I just want to-” started explaining Chris, but Alec’s deadly gaze shut him up and he just looked down, forming fists with his hands and he clenched his jaw. Chris was the kind of person that wasn’t used to getting turned down. Usually people never said no to him, so seeing Alec turning him down like that was something new. However, Chris’ big ego was never going to allow him to end things like this, so without Alec’s consent, he stepped inside of the apartment and just as Alec was about to push him out, Chris grabbed Alec’s shoulder firmly, pushing him inside of the apartment, closing the door with a kick of his leg and then he pinned the younger one against the wall, trapping him between it with his body and Alec’s eyes widened.

“What the hell are you doing, Chris?” snapped Alec and then narrowed his eyes. He could easily out power the other, but he was pretty shocked. Even though Chris was usually an idiot and a complete imbecile, he never forced himself upon him like that. “Stop it,” said Alec and tried to push the other away, but Chris wouldn’t budge. He was on a mission to seduce Alec and if nothing else was working, then he’d have to use force. That was bound to work in his favour; Alec was never able to say no to him once he’d get him into the ‘mood’.

“I told you, haven’t I?” asked Chris and licked his lower lip, waggling his eyebrows. “I missed you, baby,” he whispered against Alec’s lips, which send shivers up the detective’s spine, but not the good kind of shivers. He felt sick down to his stomach when Chris suddenly leaned in and connected their lips in a very rough kiss, which lasted more than it should. It was then when Alec’s body finally woke up and he quickly placed his hands on top of Chris’ shoulder and pushed him away, successfully this time, quickly wiping his lips, wiping the horrible kiss away.

“You sick bastard,” cursed Alec, spitting. As he did that, Chris’ face darkened and without saying anything, he stepped closer to Alec and then grabbed him by his wrist and started dragging him towards the couch. All of the colour left Alec’s face when he actually saw what Chris was attempting to do and before Chris could push him down against the couch, he quickly pushed his hand away from the other’s strong grip. “Seriously, what the hell has gotten into you?!” yelled out Alec.

“Shut up and get onto the couch,” barked Chris, stepping to Alec, who quickly took a step back. “There’s no way that you’ll be able to resist me. Can you still remember the nights when I-”

“Watch me,” said Alec and shook his head. “You’re a history to me, Chris. Whatever I felt for you back then, it’s gone. I’m with someone else, how can’t you understand? The only things I feel for you are hate and… well, pity. Because the way you’re acting right now is _pathetic_ ,” said Alec and shook his head.

“Take that back!” snapped Chris and as he was about to grab Alec again, the other snapped as well, because he was sick of the older one belittling him. In the heap of the moment, Alec pushed Chris away so hard that the older one ended up onto the floor. As he fell, something fell from his pocket, but before Alec could pick up whatever had fallen from Chris’ pocket, the other was back onto his legs, walking to Alec, grabbing the collar of his shirt. Before Alec could do something else, Chris punched his jaw hard, hitting his lower lip as well so hard that the skin broke and Alec cursed when the metal taste of his blood filled his mouth. Alec cursed, because his jaw hurt as hell, but didn’t back down and returned Chris a favour, giving him a well-deserved punch as well and as the other one was in a process of collecting himself, Alec picked up the item that fell from Chris’ pocket previously, which was his phone.

In that exact moment, Chris’ phone buzzed and Alec’s eyes widened when he saw the name written on the screen. Chris received a new text and because the phone was unlocked, Alec could easily see from who the text was and what it said. The text came from a person saved as _Camille_ and the text said: _Did it work? Did he fall for it?_ Alec’s breath shook and he slowly looked up at Chris, a knot forming in his stomach. He remembered Magnus mentioning someone named Chris, with who Camille supposed to cheated him on with. At that moment Alec didn’t think anything of it, but now the harsh reality that Chris was probably the same person started sinking in.

“Camille?” snapped Alec and showed the text to Chris, who cursed and looked down. “Camille Belcourt?” repeated Alec, his entire body shaking with anger. “So you’re the person who Camille cheated Magnus on,” he said and shook his head. “I can’t believe it, it must be some kind of a joke,” he said and threw the phone to Chris.

“Shit.”

“Did what work?!” asked Alec, demanding an explanation.

“Nothing, really. That’s just-”

“Stop with excuses, Chris!” shouted Alec so loud that the latter flinched and suddenly stopped talking. “That’s Camille Belcourt, isn’t it?” asked Alec and Chris slowly nodded, Alec shaking his head and he looked down, a sad and sarcastic laughter leaving his mouth. “So you being here wasn’t really an attempt to make it up to me, but it was again some kind of a sick scam of yours’. Great,” said Alec, his heart twisting in pain and he bit into his lower lip. “Haven’t you hurt me enough? You two are unbelievable,” stammered Alec and looked back up. “Don’t you know shame? How far do you intend to go for money?”

“I don’t want your money, Alec, I just-” started Chris, but then his voice trailed off and Alec arched an eyebrow.

“I see, then it must be Camille who’s still after Magnus’ money,” said Alec and rubbed his forehead. “Man, you two are pathetic and stupid. To think that I’d be swept off my feet just like that by you. And then what? Magnus would just magically fall for Camille again?” asked Alec, almost laughing, because the whole situation was getting ridiculous. “I feel sorry for you, because you clearly don’t know what true love is. That is something that you and Camille will never have, so in a way, you deserve each other. But none of your little tricks will be able to tear me and Magnus apart. You can tell her that if she asks how your little scam _worked_ ,” said Alec.

“Look, Alec, I didn’t really want to-”

“Get out!” said Alec and walked to the door, opening it.

“But-”

“Out!” yelled Alec and it was then when Chris finally realised that he had lost. As Chris left, a satisfied smirk came upon Alec’s lips, because he felt satisfied. It was the first time that he was able to stand up for himself in front for Chris like that and even though he was pissed at Camille and his ex again, that didn’t matter for the time being. He was only glad that he was able to throw Chris out of his apartment and even though his knuckles on his right hand hurt from the punch he gave to the other before, he had to admit it to himself that it was quite satisfying.

* * *

“Alexander, what in the world happened to your face?” asked Magnus. It was the next day and Alec was at the hospital, paying Magnus a visit. Thanks to Chris, he had a split lip and a nasty bruise on the right side of his jaw, which hurt like hell. But at the same time, he imagined that Chris looked even worse that day and was probably sporting a black eye. “Who did this to you?” demanded Magnus to know when Alec was sitting down next to him and he was quickly up in a sitting position, gently holding Alec’s chin up, studying the nasty bruise on the jaw, his heart falling to the pit of his stomach when he saw the state Alec’s lip was in. “Tell me their name and I’ll kick the shit out of the person who dared to hurt you like this.”

Alec chuckled as Magnus said that, but then let out a little moan of discomfort when Magnus gently skimmed his fingers over his bruise. “That’s okay, I sorted it out with that person myself,” said Alec and then made a short pause, Magnus not laughing. The older one found the situation anything but funny, so Alec stopped smiling as well and bowed his head down. “You shouldn’t worry about it, everything’s okay.”

“Tell me who did this to you,” said Magnus, not ready to back down and Alec huffed under his breath. He didn’t want to tell Magnus who it was, because he would just upset his boyfriend even more. But at the same time, he didn’t want to keep things from Magnus, since this was about him as well.

“Chris decided to pay me a visit yesterday,” said Alec painfully slowly and Magnus’ eyes widened in horror.

“Your ex?!” exclaimed Magnus and pressed his lips together when Alec nodded, feeling his heart fastening a little bit and anger started setting in within the older one, because in his humble opinion, Chris should stay the hell away from his boyfriend. Especially knowing that Chris was connected to Camille! “What the hell did he want?” asked Magnus, his voice strained and he carefully studied Alec’s face, which became kind of annoyed, sighing and he slowly shrugged.

“Well, at first his excuse was trying to make it up to me and because I wouldn’t give in, he then tried seducing me,” said Alec and rubbed his palms together. “It was _so_ weird and because I, of course, didn’t want anything to do with him, he tried forcing himself on me. It was then when things became more physical and well, aggressive,” said Alec, Magnus’ eyes widening when he heard that and he quickly went closer to Alec, quickly grabbing his hand, linking their fingers together and tried to remain calm, but inside he was boiling with anger.

“He didn’t do anything to you, did he?” asked Magnus, concerned and Alec only shook his head.

“Of course not,” said Alec and gently touched his aching jaw. “Because he wouldn’t listen, I ended up pushing him away and in the heap of moment, he punched me,” said the detective and rolled his eyes. “Worry not, I returned him the favour. He must be sporting a pretty nasty black eye today,” said Alec and smiled proudly, but his smile died down when he saw that even that didn’t make Magnus smile. “Like I said Magnus, nothing happened, so don’t worry. Though I made a quite interesting discovery yesterday.”

“How can I not worry?” asked Magnus and made a short pause. “What kind of a discovery?”

“It appears Chris and Camille know each other,” said Alec and shook his head, rubbing his forehead. “If you ask me, they’re con artists; scamming people into marriage and then divorcing them for their money,” he added and made a short pause. “Well, it turned out that Chris’ little visit yesterday was one of Camille’s plans. It would appear that while Chris would seduce me, you’d return back to her,” he added and then scoffed, because it seemed like a stupid plan. Alec then looked up at Magnus and frowned, because he expected Magnus to look more surprised to learn that Chris and Camille were working together.

“Why doesn’t this surprise me?” asked Magnus and shook his head.

“What do you mean?”

“I know about Chris and Camille,” said Magnus and took in a deep breath. “I’ve known for a while now to be honest,” he then added and wasn’t really surprised when he saw an insulted expression on Alec’s face.

“And it didn’t occur to you to tell me?” asked Alec, irritated that he was always the last one to know things.

“I had intentions of telling you, but everything happened so fast,” said Magnus and the expression on Alec’s face told him that he didn’t quite believe him. “I mean it, Alexander. I found out when I was still a ghost and that day you just went to see me to the hospital for the first time. It wasn’t really a right time then and well, then… other things happened,” muttered Magnus and made a short pause. “My point is that I wanted to tell you, I just forgot about it to be honest. Spending time with you made me completely forget about the two of _them_.”

“That’s okay,” said Alec after a while and slowly got onto his legs, so that he could sit on the corner of Magnus’ bed and a little smile spread across his face as he gently cupped Magnus’ face. “I understand,” he then added and bit into his lower lip. “To be honest, I also wiped them from the existence these past few weeks, because they’ve been lovely,” said Alec and Magnus chuckled.

“True,” said Magnus and looked at the nasty bruise again, chewing on his lower lip and then his face lit up when he remembered a good way to ease Alec’s pain. Ever so gently, Magnus planted a kiss on top of the bruised jaw and the split lip, Alec hissing in discomfort, but said nothing and grinned as Magnus pulled back. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Of course not,” said Alec and grinned. “Kissing it better?”

“Mm-hmm,” purred the older one and kissed Alec gently again. “How did it feel punching Chris?”

“Marvellous,” said Alec. “He has a pretty punchable face.”

Magnus snorted at that and shook his head. “I didn’t know you could be so… aggressive,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows. “Then again, you _are_ a detective, so it couldn’t come to a surprise to me,” went on by saying the older one. “I would just love to see you in action once, Detective Lightwood,” purred Magnus against Alec’s lips, sending shivers up the other’s spine, his cheeks heating up.

“Oh?”

“Once I get out of here,” started Magnus, his voice dropping an octave lower. “We should have a little bit of fun. We could roleplay a little bit. Imagine it, Alexander, me breaking the rules and needing someone to discipline me. That’s when you come in place, Detective, you tie me up and punish me all you want,” said Magnus and winked, Alec’s throat dry.

“Ro-roleplay?” asked Alec. “Tie you up?”

“Don’t tell me it doesn’t excite you, Alexander,” whispered Magnus and the only response he received was a soft moan as Alec connected their lips in a deep and hungry kiss, Magnus laughing and he couldn’t wait until the day he was going to be released from the hospital, because, _oh boy,_ were the two of them going to have fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm. So, the thing is, I have a feeling that this is slowly getting a bit too long and I should somehow start wrapping things up, because I'm slowly running out of ideas. I have the next chapter written, but apart from that, I don't know how to continue. Yeah, I have a general idea, like Magnus getting out of the hospital, the two of them moving in together and having their happy ending, but I feel that just writing this in a chapter or two would feel too rushed? I don't know, if anyone has any ideas what they'd like to see, don't hesitate to let me know ^^;  
> Also, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It had a bit of unneeded drama, but that usually happens when I'm running out of ideas, sorry! ^^;


	27. Chapter 27

Magnus was done with the therapy for that day and was on his way back to his room, sitting in the wheel chair, Catarina pushing him towards the room. That day, he made quite a big progress; he was able to stand on his feet without any support! He still couldn't move when he was standing, but that wasn't a big deal since it was only a matter of days before he'd be ready for the next step, hoping that Alec would be there when he'd make his first steps after months of being unable to walk on his own. Having Alec witness such a moment would mean a lot to him and he was sure that his boyfriend was as equally excited about it as well. And just as Magnus returned to his room, there was a lovely surprise waiting for him there; Alexander had decided to come and visit him.

When Alec was done with work for that day, he headed straight for the hospital. Because he was already a regular there, he knew Magnus’ schedule more than anymore, so he wasn’t really surprised when he saw that the room was empty, deciding to wait for the other one there, because he had quite a lot of plans for him and Magnus to do that day. His plan was to take Magnus out for a change; while it was true that Magnus was technically still hospitalised, he was well and stable enough to be able to go out if he wanted to, with someone with him of course.

Alec asked Catarina the previous day if it was okay if he took Magnus out for a short date and the woman saw no problem in that. In fact, she was quite supportive of that idea herself as well. In her opinion it would do Magnus good if he would go out for a change. Sure, being in a hospital did Magnus good, but at the same time, she knew the other one was bored. Besides, with Alec around, he would be in good hands. Alec was eager to learn and in the past few months that he kept coming over to Magnus at the hospital, he learned a thing or two of how he should help Magnus if something happened.

“Alexander, you’re here! Such a lovely surprise after the long day that I had,” exclaimed Magnus happily, Catarina stepping away from the wheel chair, the older one taking control of the wheels himself and he slowly came closer to Alec. The younger one smiled and leaned down, pressing a quick kiss on top of Magnus’ lips, giving him a welcome kiss. Magnus smiled into their kiss, humming softly as he pressed their lips together a few more times before Alec straightened himself up. “You didn’t say you were coming today,” he then added and Alec shrugged.

“I wanted to surprise you,” said Alec, wearing his usual goofy smile on his face and he waggled his eyebrows playfully, eyeing Catarina, who was laughing silently in the background. Watching those two always put Catarina in a better mood; Magnus looked so happy with Alec and it was adorable seeing Alec being still so love-struck when he was with Magnus. “Anyways,” said Alec and rubbed his palms together. “How did therapy go?” he asked and looked over at Catarina.

“Oh, Magnus made a very big step forwards today,” said Catarina when spoken to and came a bit closer to the couple. “He was able to stand up all on his own, without having to hold onto something,” she went on by saying and placed a hand on top of Magnus’ shoulder, giving him a proud smile. “It’s only a matter of days that he’ll be ready for walking,” she then added and Alec’s heart skipped a beat, a huge smile brightening his face.

“That’s amazing,” said Alec happily and Magnus gave him a little nod.

“I really am amazing, aren’t I?” joked Magnus, earning a playful eye-roll from his boyfriend, while Catarina only gave him a look of disapproval, but not in a bad way. “So, in a way, I deserve another reward, hmm?” he then said, his voice a bit lower and when he gave a little wink to Alec, the other one’s face heating up when he saw a smug look on Catarina’s face, quickly clearing his throat, biting down onto his lower lip.

“Right, a reward,” said Alec and let out a nervous laughter. “Well, I was thinking,” he then said as he remembered about his previous plans for that day. “Since you’re feeling well enough that we could go out on a little date?” asked Alec and when he saw the confusion written on Magnus’ face, Alec spoke again, giving the latter an explanation. “I asked Catarina if it was okay if I took you out for a little while and she said that you’re in a good enough condition to leave the hospital for a few hours,” he said and looked over at Catarina. “Right?”

“Yep, that’s completely right,” said Catarina. “That is if you want to, of course,” she then quickly added when she saw the uncertainty written on Magnus’ face.

A little furrow formed in between Magnus’ eyebrows, because the idea of leaving the hospital before he was completely healed up didn’t even cross his mind. However, the more he continued thinking about it, the more he liked it, because, who wouldn’t? While the staff in the hospital was lovely, he did get bored a lot lately. Also, a date with Alexander was more than amazing! Technically, it would be their first one.

“Of course I want to,” said Magnus happily and chuckled when he saw how happy Alec looked. However, there was a little problem; he had nothing right to wear for their first date. He wanted it to be memorable enough and not having the right outfit to go with it was something unacceptable in Magnus’ opinion. Alec, on the other hand, felt a bit uneasy when he saw that Magnus suddenly appeared to change his mind, because the smile was gone, a serious expression coming upon his face.

“But?” asked Alec.

“I have nothing to wear!” stated Magnus way too seriously, making Alec laugh out loud. He wasn’t laughing at Magnus, no, he was laughing out of relief. For a second there, he was afraid that Magnus must’ve changed his mind about going out on a date. “Alexander, this is serious,” said Magnus, annoyed, because Alec wasn’t taking him seriously. “I can’t go out looking like this!” he went on by saying, pointing on himself as he was still wearing the hospital’s pyjamas and let out an annoyed groan. All of his best clothes were probably still at Camille’s! He did have some of his clothes at the hospital, but none of them were appropriate to wear on the first date; they were just too… plain.

“Oh, come on Magnus, I’m sure you can pick out an outfit from the clothes you have over here,” said Catarina and shook her head. “You have a wardrobe full of clothes, don’t even try to deny it,” she then quickly added when she said that her friend was about to say something back as a protest and in the end, Magnus only nodded, because it was true. At the end, he came to the conclusion that going out and spending some time with Alec outside of the hospital for the first time was much more important that how he looked.

“Fine,” said Magnus in the end and looked over at Alec, whose face brightened again. Alec didn’t care what Magnus wore. He was completely focused on their date and the excitement got the best of him when Magnus finally decided to stop throwing a temper tantrum because of his clothes. “Just… Alexander, could you please wait for me outside? I wanna change and if Cat would be so kind to help me out then-”

“I understand,” said Alec, nodded, planted one final kiss on top of Magnus’ head and then walked out of the room, giving Magnus room and space to get ready for their date. Magnus looked over at Catarina when the two of them were left alone, the woman more than happy to help Magnus get ready.

In the end, Magnus decided to go with a pair of black jeans and a tight-fitting button up shirt, which did wonders for his biceps and he, for a fact, knew that very well and was excited to see Alec’s reaction when he’d see him in those clothes. Magnus picket out a black leather jacket, with some glitter dusted over the shoulders of it, to go with the rest of his outfit and was in immediately in a better mood. In his humble opinion, glitter always made things look better. However, there was still something missing; make up. It’s been ages since he had last wore it and to be honest, he missed it. Luckily, just a week ago, he had asked Catarina to go buy some for it. Currently he had a black and silver eyeshadow, an eyeliner and a mascara. Usually that would be too little to complete the look, but for the time being, it was perfect. He swiftly moved his hands in front of the mirror, his smile widening as he completed a simple smokey-eye look, finishing it with a winged liner and once he coated his eyelashes with a generous amount of mascara, he was ready to go. Before he left the room, he fixed his hair one more time and then he was ready, winking to himself as he continued to observe himself in the mirror. Yep, Alexander, was definitely going to be impressed with what he’d see.

“How do I look, Cat?” asked Magnus and turned around, still sitting in the wheel chair, Catarina humming as she was impressed as well.

“Gorgeous,” said Catarina and chuckled. “You’re going to give the poor guy a heart attack,” she then joked, referring to Alec and Magnus laughed along her joke, but then nodded, because he knew it was probably going to be true.

“I know, right?” said Magnus in his usual, cocky way. “Okay, I’m ready,” he then announced and went closer to the door, Catarina opening it for him so that he could pass through. Magnus found Alec sitting in the waiting room, the younger one quickly on his legs when he noticed that Magnus was already finished with his preparations, his eyes widening when he saw his boyfriend.

Even though Magnus was now wearing a jacket over the blue button-up shirt, the jacket was also very tight-fitted, Alec feeling his throat going dry as all he could was focus on Magnus’ arms. He had to force himself to look up, a shy smile spreading across his face when he noticed that Magnus was wearing makeup as well, which brought back many memories. Magnus’ ghost used to have the makeup on as well, his heart hammering against his ribcage, because Magnus was gorgeous. Not that he wasn’t on daily basis, but seeing him all dolled up like that just made Alec feel… many things.

“Alexander,” said Magnus and grinned when he saw that Alec was literally devouring him with his eyes. “Close your mouth, you’re drooling. I know that I’m a lot to look at, but please focus. We’re still technically in the hospital,” said Magnus playfully, but in all honesty, didn’t mind the staring one bit. In fact, he was proud that Alec couldn’t tear his eyes away from him.

“I’m sorry,” stammered Alec and forced himself to look away. “I was just… I mean, you’re, um… wow,” blabbered the detective, making Magnus and Catarina laugh.

“I’m glad you like it. I mean this is all for _you_ ,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows, Alec giving him an awkward nod and then took in a deep breath, mentally preparing himself to get going, because it was getting kind of late already. “Anyways,” said Magnus. “I think we should get going, what do you say, darling?” he asked, Alec quickly nodding.

“Yeah,” said Alec and stepped closer to Magnus, glancing over at Catarina, who now had her arms crossed on top of her chest and couldn’t stop smiling as he watched the other two.

“Have fun boys,” said Catarina. “Oh, and please be on your best behaviour,” she then added.

“Oh, I will-” said Alec, his voice trailing off.

“I know you will, I was talking about Magnus,” said the doctor with a grin and then shook her head when Magnus stuck out his tongue. “Anyway, be back at a reasonable hour,” she then quickly added and after Alec promised he’d bring Magnus back in a few hours, the two of them finally left the hospital.

* * *

Their date started off great; just as planned, Alec took Magnus out for a dinner at the restaurant that was really close to the hospital. After that, he had planned taking Magnus to the nearby cinema, but they didn’t get to do that. After they arrived at the restaurant, things started going south very soon and it all had to do with the idiot that served their food; that waiter had to be one of the rudest people that Alec came across in his life. Not even Camille and Chris were worse than him, which spoke volumes about what kind of an imbecile the guy was.

The date was going amazing, until the mentioned idiot started throwing out remarks at the two of them, but most of the things he said were targeted at Magnus for no apparent reasons; horrible homophobic and racial slurs, and in the end he even started making fun of the fact that Magnus was in a wheel chair, which left Magnus devastated. Usually, he had thicker skin and didn’t care what people thought or said about him, but that idiot knew which buttons to push and Magnus felt horrible. He didn’t even mind the racial and homophobic stuff, because he was used to that, but once the other started attacking him for being in a wheel chair was when Magnus broke down, feeling self-conscious and he almost believed some of the horrible things that were coming out of the idiot’s mouth.

Magnus begged Alec not to make a scene, because he didn’t want to make things worse. But Alec, of course, didn’t listen to him, because there was no way that he was going to allow someone insulting his boyfriend like that. So, when the waiter came back with their food, Alec demanded to speak with their manager, still trying to remain polite. But because the guy didn’t budge and kept on making hurtful remarks towards Magnus, Alec lost it. His short temper got the best of him and he ended up giving the waiter a well-deserved punch and if it wasn’t for the other staff, which threw them out of the restaurant in the end, he would have done much more than just hit the bastard.

So, the two of them were currently out of the street, Alec sitting on the park’s bench, while Magnus was next to him, keeping silent. Alec, on the other hand, was cursing loudly, still beyond angry and he wanted to return back to the restaurant and beat the guy’s ass. If it wasn’t for Magnus, who needed him there, then that was what he’d do. “What an idiot,” said Alec for what seemed like a hundredth time. “Imbecile, fucking stupid, despicable human being,” he then said, speaking fast, his breathing ragged, body full of adrenaline. “How can someone say such things, I mean honestly… such a low-life,” he went on by saying, who was now talking to himself, trying to calm down.

Magnus kept listening to all of that, but even though Alec defended him earlier, that didn’t put him in a better mood. The old Magnus wouldn’t take shit like that and would stand up to the person. So, it was because of that that Magnus felt so… powerless and he hated feeling like that. It took him _years_ before he was able to stand up for himself to people properly and now it seemed that he was back where he was all those years ago; at complete bottom.

“Maybe the date was a bad idea,” stammered Magnus and Alec looked at him in disbelief.

“No, it wasn’t,” said Alec firmly and frowned when Magnus shrugged and looked away. His shoulders were slumped down and even though Alec couldn’t see Magnus’ face, it was clear that the other was upset. “Magnus, hey, look at me,” said Alec, speaking softly this time and because Magnus wouldn’t look at him, Alec moved closer to him, placing his palm against Magnus’ cheek, the other one leaning against the touch and allowed the detective to lift his gaze. “Don’t take the things that idiot said to heart. He’s just a scumbag and-”

“I know that, okay?!” said Magnus, his voice shaky and loud, Alec’s voice trailing off and he stopped talking for the time being. “Don’t you think I know all of that?” he then asked and let out a sarcastic laugh. “I know the things he said aren’t true and shouldn’t bother me… but… they do,” confessed Magnus, his heart heavy. “I just hate feeling like this… weak, completely powerless. The old me would stand up to that idiot, but now I’m just-”

“You aren’t weak, Magnus,” said Alec in disbelief and placed his hand over Magnus’, who quickly removed it, leaving Alec even more puzzled than before. “You’re one of the strongest people that I know. You’ve been through so much and-”

“That’s not me anymore,” said Magnus bitterly and looked up in the sky, to prevent Alec from seeing the tears that started gathering in his eyes, blinking quickly and tried his best to breathe despite the tightness he felt in his chest. “Now I’m just-”

“The most amazing person that I’ve met,” said Alec quickly, interrupting Magnus, because he didn’t want to listen Magnus putting himself down anymore. Honestly, it hurt him to hear all of that coming out of Magnus’ mouth and all of his previous anger disappeared into thin air and he bowed his head down, reaching for Magnus’ hand again and this time, the other didn’t push his hand away. Instead, a little gasp left Magnus’ mouth and he linked their fingers together as he kept on staring at the sky, Alec’s words having such an impact on his that brought more tears to his eyes. “Hey, it was a compliment, there’s no need to cry,” said Alec, panicking when he saw tears rolling tears down Magnus’ face.

“Ugh, I’ll ruin my makeup,” said Magnus, laughing nervously as he finally looked down and quickly started wiping his eyes carefully, in order not to mess up his eye makeup, but he couldn’t help himself. Alec’s words warmed up his heart so much and made him feel so many things that he couldn’t control his emotions, this time not minding the tears. Magnus sniffled and then bit into his lower lip when he felt Alec cradling his face gently.

“Great, this has been the worst date ever,” groaned Alec. “First that idiot hurts you and now I made you cry. Maybe you were right, we should’ve just stayed at the-”

“Nonsense,” said Magnus and chuckled, sniffling again and sighed, tears finally stopping. “These are tears of happiness right now, so don’t fill your pretty little head with worries, angel,” said Magnus, a smile tugging at his lips at the mentioned nickname. “I just… I don’t know. I’m a mess,” he then added, puffing his cheeks.

“It’s all because of that idiot,” said Alec under his breath. “I regret not hitting him harder. Maybe I should’ve stuffed his face with the plate of food that he brought us,” went on by saying the detective and Magnus chuckled again, shrugging.

“Violence isn’t the solution here, darling,” scolded him Magnus, but found it quite refreshing how Alec took care of that idiot. If he was to run into him now, he would probably do the same, feeling his confidence returning.

“I know,” said Alec, feeling a bit better when he saw a smile getting wider on Magnus’ face. “But it sure felt good,” he then added and Magnus shook his head with a smile.

“That I believe you,” said Magnus.

“So, what should we do now?” asked Alec as some more time passed and looked over at Magnus. “Want to go back to the hospital?” he asked then, because he wouldn’t find it strange if Magnus wanted to go back already. “I completely understand if you want to go back.”

“Go back to the hospital? Oh, no, no, no you still owe me that dinner,” said Magnus and a smug smile spread across his face. “Plus, it’s still too early and I look too good to call it a night already,” he added playfully.

“You sure? Because I don’t want you to push yourself if you don’t feel like-”

“Yes, I’m sure,” said Magnus and leaned closer to Alec, the other doing the same and smiled when their lips met in a short, but sweet kiss. “I won’t allow an idiot like that ruin our first date,” he said, determined. Alec was right, that guy was just an asshole and this world was unfortunately full of them.

“Great,” said Alec and got onto his legs. “Where do you wanna go?”

“Well, I’m starving and I saw a hot-dog stand down that street before,” suggested Magnus and waggled his eyebrows, Alec nodding in agreement. Before, Alec wanted to take Magnus to somewhere fancy, a good restaurant like they visited before, but not anymore. Screw fancy people and their restaurants! They can take their fancy food and shove it up their- “What do you say?”

“Sounds good to me,” said Alec, snapping out of it.

After ordering their food, they returned back to the park, where they continued to have a lovely time. An hour or more passed, the two of them holding their hands as they were observing the sky and the stars in complete silence. Because it was the night, it had gotten quite chilly and Magnus didn’t want to admit it out loud, but he was feeling quite cold. He didn’t want the perfect moment to be over so he kept quiet about it, but Alec noticed that he started shivering.

“Feeling cold?” asked Alec.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to go back quite yet,” said Magnus.

“Me neither,” admitted Alec and then an idea popped into his mind. He took off his own jacket and wrapped it around Magnus, earning a little chuckle from the other. “Warmer?” he asked, his body flinching when he lost a layer of clothing, but he didn’t care.

“Hmm, a lot better,” said Magnus. “But won’t you feel cold? I mean it’s pretty cold outside and even though I love this gentleman side of you, I-”

“Yep, I’m sure,” said Alec. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to do this,” he blurted out.

“Do what? Share your jacket with someone?” asked Magnus and grinned when he saw that Alec’s face had gotten redder.

“Well, yeah?” said Alec and felt his face heating up, because he knew how ridiculous it sounded. “I mean I always saw it in the movies and it’s romantic, okay?” he said defensively, Magnus laughing out loud. “Stop laughing! You know what, give me back my jacket,” he then added and just as he was about to take it, Magnus wrapped his arms around himself, making it impossible for Alec to take his jacket back.

“You’re adorable, Alexander,” said Magnus. “And so, so cheesy,” he then added, Alec groaning when he started laughing again. However, a smile spread across his face, happy to see Magnus laughing like that again, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend and kissed him softly, Magnus melting right against him, smile getting wider, eyes closing. Magnus’ previous worries were put at rest and the incident with the idiotic waiter was long forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've decided to add a bit more to the story! With the help of your guys' ideas, I feel inspired enough, so thank you! In the next few chapters I'll mainly focus on punishing Camille and Chris, which should be pretty satisfying to write! 
> 
> This chapter was more of a filler, I know, because I didn't know what to write at the time, but in the end I didn't have the heart not to publish it ^^; I hope you liked it.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new case, a new ghost
> 
> And a new plan how to bring Camille and Chris down. 
> 
> Enjoy ;) 
> 
> (Warning: I know very little about law system in USA - or in general, really - so a friend of my is kinda helping me out with the case. However, I do apologise if there are some things off and aren't correct. If someone's more familiar with that, please correct me if I'm wrong! Thank you~)

''So, are you gonna help me with this case, or not?'' asked Jace for what felt like the hundredth time and groaned, because Alec was too preoccupied with something else to bee even be paying attention to him. While Jace was working his ass off on a new case, Alec was taking a closer look into the whole Chris and Camille situation and he quite quickly found out that the whole thing wasn’t as innocent as it first appeared, like he thought. With just one quick search, he was able to find out that the two of them had been using fake IDs, having open quite a few bank accounts, using their fake aliases and when Alec found out how many people the two had scammed so far, he had been shocked. So, he and Magnus weren’t the only ones. In fact, they had been the only ones that saw through them and didn’t fall for their lies until the end, until they’d be able to take away from them everything they’ve worked so hard to gain.

Alec looked up from the papers he was scanning through, which was a list of transactions made to Camille’s and Chris’ many bank accounts. With a little bit of Luke’s help, he was able to get the warrant and was able to get all the needed information from the bank. The two of them were loaded, so Alec couldn’t figure out for the life of him why they only wanted more money. Greed, probably. They’ve broken so many hearts and Alec was determined to make an end of their little games. Since the two were using fake identities, he was sure the court would name all of the mentioned marriages invalid and the two would have to return the stolen money. Not only that, but Alec had a few ideas about how he’d punish the two even more. If he was about to call all of the victims and invite them all to court, then the system would probably work out in his favour. It would take some time to achieve that, but Alec had enough motivation to go through this all.

And even if the court wasn’t going to work into his favour about the fake marriages, then just reporting Camille and Chris for owning and using forged identity documents was going to be enough for the two of them to receive a punishment; forgery of identity and fraud was what he was aiming at and he knew well enough those were serious offenses. He rubbed his palms together as a satisfied smirk came upon his face. There was more, if he was able to show that Camille and Chris had been working and scamming people together - which wasn’t going to be all that difficult - then he was looking at another offence; aiding and abetting. Perfect, said Alec to himself, excited to let Magnus know about his plan. He was surely going to be just as excited about bringing justice as he was, if not even more.

“Alec!” said Jace, his voice much louder, his irritation pretty obvious, making his partner finally look up. Alec flinched when his name was mentioned and he gave Jace a puzzled look, but then sighed, ran fingers through his hair and turned around in his chair, placing the papers away and chewed on his lower lip. “Look, I know that you’re busy with the whole Chris and Camille thing and I promise to help, but,” said Jace and took in a deep breath. “But, man, you need to help me out as well. Simon just brought me the information about the autopsy and we need to start working on the case as well, because Luke will-”

“I know, I know,” said Alec and sighed, rubbing his forehead and took the file of the new case when Jace handed it to him, quickly scanned through all of the information, his eyes widening when he saw how young was their new victim. A 16 year old girl, still unidentified, was found strangled on a field behind a high school and Alec felt his stomach dropping. “She was so young,” he heard himself say. Even though he had been a detective on duty for a few years now, it still shocked and saddened him when their victims were so young. It was so tragic.

“I know,” said Jace and cleared his throat.

“Any suspects?”

“No, as you can see, we don’t even know her identity yet,” said Jace and took in a deep breath.

As soon as Jace said that, Alec felt the temperature in the room dropping and he placed a hand on top of his mouth, feeling sick down to his stomach. It took him a while to recover and he then quickly looked around the room, searching for the ghost of the young girl. Even though he couldn’t see her a first, he could feel her emotions and was surprised to feel such a strong anger. Then again, it shouldn’t really surprise him; ghosts that died from such a sudden and horrible death were often angry, if not sad. After a minute or so, the girl finally appeared in the corner of the room and Alec let out a hitched breath when he saw her. Her black hair was all messy, covering her face, her skin pale and he had to look away when he saw the bruises around her neck. From what Alec could tell, someone used a rope or a cord to strangle her.

Shivers ran up Jace’s spine when he saw Alec staring past him, to the corner of the room and that let him know that Alec saw their victim. “Is she here?” asked Jace with a small voice and Alec only nodded, but said nothing. “Good, ask her if she remembers her name,” said the blonde and as soon as he said that, the file flew from Alec’s hands, hitting Jace straight in the face. Alec’s eyes widened and he swallowed thickly, while Jace let out a loud yelp.

“Hello there,” said Alec softly, his stomach dropping when the girl’s head quickly turned to him. The fact that her long hair was covering her face creeped the hell out of Alec and the way that she moved was also beyond creepy. She kept disappearing and reappearing all over the room, Alec quickly distancing himself when she suddenly appeared right in front of him and he cursed. Why did ghosts like to do that? It was like they _knew_ how creepy it was and were only doing it on purpose. Alec pushed those thoughts away and tried to focus on more important thing. “Excuse my partner’s rudeness,” said Alec, the girl suddenly stopping in her place, lifting her head up painfully slowly. “I’m, um, just-”

“Am I dead?” she suddenly asked with a small voice and Alec slowly nodded.

“Yes,” said Alec with a heavy heart.

“How come you can see me then?”

“I can see spirits,” explained Alec.

“How did I die?” was another question and Alec quickly looked down, not knowing how to tell her that. Telling the victims of how they died, if they couldn’t remember, was one of the worst parts and Alec still preferred them finding out on their own. That way, they were able to remember vital parts of information that helped them with solving the cases as well. Because Alec wouldn’t reply, he could feel the spirit’s anger worsening. “Tell me!” she screamed on top of her lungs, making the lights in the room flicker and Jace was ready to get the hell out of the room. However, as he was about to walk to the door, he watch with horror in his eyes how the lock on the door locked itself and that told him to stay in place. “I said; tell me!”

“Alec, what the hell’s going on?” asked Jace.

“You were murdered,” said Alec quickly, but decided not to go into great detail.

“Murdered?” asked the girl, Alec feeling the girl’s emotions calming down a bit and the lights in the room finally stopped flickering. As soon as Alec told her that, she lifted her head, revealing her face and Alec immediately felt less creeped out. “That… bitch,” she then said suddenly said and Alec frowned, his fear quickly transforming into confusion.

“Excuse me?” stammered the detective.

“She was always jealous of me, always,” snapped the girl and rolled her eyes, not paying attention to Alec at all, the detective watching the girl carefully as he was trying to make sense of what the other was saying. Was she having some kind of a vision or was she merely talking to herself? “It’s not my fault that I was born prettier and wealthier than her,” she added and Alec folded his arms on top of his chest, arching an eyebrow. “I always knew she was the one who’d get me in the end,” she said, Alec’s eyes widening when he heard that.

“You know who murdered you?” asked Alec quickly and pressed his lips together. Well, this was going to be way easier than he first though! “I mean, have you remembered something?” was his another question and the girl roller her eyes.

“No, I haven’t remembered anything,” she said with a cocky tone in her voice. “But I know who wanted me dead,” she said. “There’s this girl in my class and lately she has been obsessed with me,” said the spirit. “She was so jealous of me. A few months ago I started hanging out with her because she seemed cool at first, I found it kind of cute how she wanted to be like me, but I never actually though she’s actually become so obsessed with me. It was like she thought she really became me and when I confronted her, she went bat shit crazy on me. I tried telling her to back off, but she wouldn’t. She started stalking me and my friends and-” went on by explaining the girl and Alec’s eyes widened. The spirit was right; the mentioned friend had a good motive to actually want her dead. There was just one problem; the spirit couldn’t actually remember what happened. But for the time being, it was the only lead they got and Alec decided to go with that.

“We’ll look into it, I promise,” said Alec, Jace giving a nod as well, even though he didn’t really know what was going on, he just wanted to feel included. Alec rolled his eyes when he noticed that Jace was pretending that he knew what was going on, but then looked back at the ghost. “Can you remember your name?” tried the detective again.

“Of course,” said the girl. “I’m Marissa Lorenz,” said the spirit with a giggle, Alec arching an eyebrow, writing down the girl’s name.

“And your friend’s name?”

“Sarah Park,” said Marissa, giggling as she glanced at Alec. “And what’s your name, officer?”

“I’m not an officer, I’m a detective,” explained Alec in a monotone voice and looked over at Jace. “I’m Alec and that is my partner, Jace,” he quickly introduced themselves, Jace quickly waving to the spot where he thought the spirit was standing. “And we’ll do everything that’s in our power to help you out, okay?”

Marissa looked over at Jace and then back at Alec, not minding that arrangement at all. After all, she was getting two handsome detective working for her. “That’s fine with me,” said the girl, appearing over Jace’s side and she let out a little dramatic sigh. “Is he naturally blond?” asked Marissa all of the sudden, admiring Jace’s hair, Alec rolling his eyes.

“What’s happening?” asked Jace, freezing when something cold came really close to him, eyes growing with fear as one of his locks moved on its own, his eyes searching Alec, who had an unamused look on his face. “Alec, what’s going on? Tell her to stop,” whined the younger one, closing his eyes and making a step back.

“She seems to like you,” said Alec, his mood brightening when he saw the horrified look on Jace’s face.

“Alec, that’s not funny.”

“Who says I was being funny?” asked Alec, a little smile spreading across his face, grinning because as Jace moved, so did the girl. It was watching a game of cat and a mouse; Jace being the mouse in this case. “She’s following you around,” he said, on purpose, just to make Jace more freaked out, laughing out loud when Jace quickly decided to leave the office. However, Marissa followed him out of the office, so he yelled after him; “She’s still after you.” With Jace and Marissa being gone, Alec was finally able to get to work, shaking his head as he looked out of the window, watching Jace running away from the spirit. “Teenagers,” said Alec under his breath, opened up the file and got to work.

* * *

“How did you and Alec meet?” asked Max curiously, looking over at both men. It was later that day and Alec decided to go pick up Max from school, his little brother expressing the wish to go see Magnus and because Alec was going to head there that day, he decided that it was okay if Max tagged along with him. Besides, he knew that Magnus was going to enjoy the company, given how much he loved children, especially since the two of them had gotten along so well so far.

“Well, we, um,” started Magnus, his smile disappearing and he looked over at Alec. That question caught him off guard and because he didn’t know whether Alec had told Max about his gift or not, he decided to keep quiet. Alec, on the other hand, only smile and gave Max a little wink, the little one knew about his gift ages ago.

“I met Magnus when he was an obnoxious ghost following me around,” said Alec, Max’s eyes widening and he let out an impressed gasp. Alec told him about his gift when he was around five years old. That was when he was still living at home and one particular ghost kept on waking little Max up, giving him nightmares, so when Alec had enough of it, he had a little ‘chat’ with that ghost and Max happened to overhear the conversation. In the end, Max promised not to tell anyone and was thankful that his big brother was able to get rid of the scary man.

“You used to be a ghost?!” exclaimed Max, Magnus letting out a small breath of relief, because he didn’t want to be lying to the boy of how the two of them met. A grin spread across his face and he nodded as a reply. “That’s so cool,” said the boy. “How does it feel? Were you able to go through the walls and stuff? Did you scare people? That’s totally something I’d do. Oh, how about flying? I’ve heard that some ghosts can fly and-”

“Max,” said Alec, laughing. “Calm down,” he then said and glanced at Magnus, not really expecting him to answer to those questions. It was a tough time for Magnus. “Being a ghost isn’t as cool as you think. Magnus was in a lot of pain and-”

“It was so cool,” said Magus, interrupting Alec. At Alec’s words, the boy’s good mood seemed to be slipping and because Magnus wanted the boy to keep on being cheerful, he decided to answer. Sure, Alec was right, but Max was still a ten year old, not really grasping the seriousness of some things. “Not having to use the door all the time was cool, but the best part was messing around with Jace,” said Magnus, Max giggling.

“You scared Jace?” asked Max.

“Once I chased him around with a stapler,” said Magnus proudly, Alec chuckling when he remembered that moment and how scared Jace looked. It was something just so fun seeing; Jace claimed to be a fearless being and while that was true when he was working on case or was on field, deep inside he was a scardey-cat, afraid of the most ridiculous things. For example, ducks. It was still beyond Alec’s comprehension - and Magnus’ - that the blond was really, in fact, afraid of such harmless animals.

“With a stapler?” asked Max, his laughter getting louder and he shook his head. “I’d like to see that,” he then added, his eyes lighting up in a mischievous way and Alec shook his head, Magnus giving him a little wink.

“I would be funnier if I knew about his duck-phobia thing,” said Magnus, who was now just thinking out loud, Alec silently laughing by his side. “Seriously, what’s up with him and the ducks? What did the poor and cute creatures do to him?” he then asked and looked over at Alec.

“His phobia of ducks is actually a result of a childhood trauma,” said Alec jokingly and Max started laughing, because he already knew how the story went. “When we were younger, around ten or eleven, my mom took me and Jace to the park and there were ducks. Well, Jace was a bit too keen on feeding them and got a bit too close to one of the ducks and it attacked him,” said Alec, Magnus humming in amusement. “It chased him all the way across the park, until the poor thing, Jace, jumped into the lake, thinking that that would chase the duck away?” said Alec and shook his head. “Well, it worked, because the duck got tired of him after that. And until this day, Jace still dislikes them,” added Alec and Magnus shook his head.

“Seriously?” asked Magnus, laughing. “Oh, God...”

After that, the trio continued on chatting for a little bit, until Isabelle joined them in the hospital and stayed there for an hour or so, telling her adventures at her new job, Magnus rolling his eyes as Isabelle kept on praising Ragnor Fell. Even though the two were considered best friends, their friendship was based on the two of them messing around with each other constantly. Plus, they were competition to each other and at the end of the day, Magnus felt quite nervous as he hadn’t designed anything in months and was more than ready to return back with a new collection. After an hour, Isabelle decided to drive Max back home and Alec ended up hanging out in the hospital for a little bit longer, since he had news to tell Magnus. Well, his plan on what he was going to do with Camille and Chris, because he had it enough. Knowing that they hurt other people as well was enough of a motivation for Alec to put their little game to an end. It was about time anyway.

“Thank you for bringing Max over,” said Magnus once the two of them were left alone in the room and Alec smiled, got off the chair and sat onto the bed. “I had a lot of fun today with him. Who knew we have one more thing in common; making fun of Jace,” he then said with a chuckle and Alec grinned at that, scooting over to his boyfriend and smiled when Magnus wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“You’re welcome. It was him who suggested coming over, he loves spending time with you,” said Alec and Magnus’ eyes widened and he felt touched. “You really like kids, don’t you?” asked Alec, feeling his heart speeding up a bit and Magnus nodded.

“Of course,” said Magnus, sighing happily when Alec rested his head on top of his shoulder. “After we get married, I want to adopt a bunch of them,” he then added and Alec chuckled, nodding.

“I like the sound of that,” said Alec, feeling giddy inside when Magnus mentioned that. “You’ll make an amazing father,” he said and Magnus hummed in delight. “And I’ll probably be the bad cop, while you’ll spoil them way too much,” he commented, knowing how Magnus was and the older one chuckled.

“Can’t really help it, wanting to spoil and pamper people is in my nature,” muttered Magnus and kissed Alec softly, the other one humming in delight as their lips met for a second time. “Maybe I should start with you right now and-”

“Before we get to that,” said Alec and lifted himself up. “I have something to tell you.”

“Really?” whined Magnus and pouted. “Can’t it wait until later? I mean the mood’s right and-”

“It can’t wait.”

“Fine,” said Magnus and gave up. The mood was ruined anyway.

“It’s about Camille and Chris,” started Alec and Magnus rolled his eyes. Why was Alec so keen on bringing them up all the time? In all honesty, he was sick of dealing with the two of them and just wanted to move on. Alec noticed Magnus’ annoyance and took in a deep breath. “Look, I know you’re sick of them, so am I. But I found out something big and I think you need to know,” he said and Magnus gave him a look, but said nothing. “I did a little bit of digging this past week and found out both of them registered under different names in different states,” said Alec. “It gets worse,” he said and Magnus became interested in the whole thing. “Apart from using fake names, they’ve scammed other people the same way they tried to trick us. Camille’s been married three times and Chris two, all of the marriages ending in a few months and the amount of money they received as an alimony is crazy. They were purposely fishing for rich people,” said Alec, Magnus’ eyes widening.

“What?” whispered Magnus, heart dropping to the pit of his stomach when he heard that. “They did this to other people as well?” stammered the older one and all that Alec could do was nod. Magnus was beyond furious when he heard all of that.

“They need to be stopped, if they failed with us, then they’ll just move on other victims eventually,” said Alec, Magnus nodding. “So I came up with a plan. I started a case against them,” he said. “Just having proofs of them being registered under fake names in more than enough for them to be stopped, but I’m planning on using the fake marriages against them as well,” he said. “That’s why I’ll contact all of the people they’ve baited on and let them know what is going on. I’m planning on testifying against Chris at court myself and can only hope other people will be willing to do so.”

“Oh, you can count on me as well,” said Magnus, because he wanted to see both of them behind bars that was the only way he was going to get a sense of justice prevailing. They two of them needed to pay for the mistakes they did and Magnus was prepared to go to all lengths to make that happen. “And I’m sure other people will be on board once they know the entire story,” added Magnus and Alec nodded, hoping that Magnus was right.

“Yes, I’m not going to rest until I see them behind bars,” said Alec. “I’ll get in contact with the victims as soon as possible, I just needed to let you know first what’s going on,” he then added and sighed, Magnus giving him a little, Alec getting closer to Magnus once again, leaning against his body, feeling his body resting and a little smile spread across his face. “I’m not usually too keen on revenge, but after Chris’ last visit, I can’t really hold back and do nothing. I’m afraid Camille will try to do something again and I need to show her that she needs to back off,” he then added, because Magnus’ words made no difference no matter what.

“Yeah, I don’t really get what’s her deal,” said Magnus and sighed. “It’s not in her nature to back down when she gets turned down, so I have a feeling she’s still not done yet,” he muttered and sighed, shrugging. He didn’t like involving into unneeded drama, but taking the case to the court was necessary this time, because it was crazy how manipulating and obsessed she had gotten with him.  

“Exactly,” said Alec under his breath and sighed. “Well, with all this evidence, we’re bound to win the case, even if the two hire all the best lawyers. Of that, I am sure,” said the detective and grinned. “And then, they’ll finally leave us alone,” he added, smile coming on his face again and Magnus nodded, because he was excited a future without Camille’s interruptions as well.

“Of course we’ll win the case. You’re the best detective out there, so I don’t have an ounce of doubt in me,” said Magnus with a grin and closed his eyes when Alec leaned closer to give him a little kiss.


	29. Chapter 29

It was a few days later and Magnus was right in the middle of his therapy. His usual doctor was back, so this time Catarina wasn't helping him. Even though Magnus found the current doctor a bit annoying, he bit into his tongue and decided to go along with whatever the man was asking of him to do. At first, he warmed up his muscles by doing a few exercises for his legs as he was sitting down in a chair, where he warmed up his arms as well, since he was going to need that. That day he was going to attempt something he hadn't succeeded yet; walking. His eyes couldn't leave the walk training aids, which were leaned against the wall, waiting for him to use them. He nervously chewed on his lower lip and had to look away, feeling his heart speeding up. He kind of wished that Alec was with him when he'd take his first steps. That, or at least, if Catarina was there with him and not some stranger. Sure, he was familiar with the doctor, but he still wasn't too keen on when the man brought the walker closer to him. Up until then, he used it only to help him stand up onto his legs, his throat going dry, letting out a nervous laughter.

Breathe, reminded himself Magnus, the corners of his mouth dangerously twitching and when he was instructed to stand up on his own, he only nodded and signed the doctor to move the walker a bit closer to him. When he was comfortable enough with the closeness of the walker was when Magnus held onto it tight and used his upper strength to pull himself onto his legs. He felt his muscles straining a bit, but standing up had gotten a lot easier compared to a few weeks ago. That was thanks to the fact that he slowly started regaining back his muscle mass he once had and he slowly straightened himself up, looking down.

Magnus still felt kind of unsteady on his legs, but was slowly getting there. The floor under his feet felt kind of shaky, but he came to the conclusion that it was probably just making his mind things up. That, and he was nervous as hell, clearing his throat as he slowly looked up, smiling politely at the doctor when he praised him for doing a good job. For the next few moments, Magnus just kept standing in place, allowing his legs to get used to feeling floor underneath them and he slowly started preparing himself for walking. First, he’d move the walker forward and then he’d take one step closer to it. In theory, it sounded pretty easy, but as he attempted to move one of his legs as he stood there in place, he cursed, because all that he managed to do was to raise the leg off the ground for not even more than an inch.

The doctor noticed his doubts and quickly confronted Magnus. “Don’t over think it, Magnus,” said the man and Magnus looked into his direction. “Remember the conversation we had earlier? You need to let go of those worries in your head and just go for it. Your body is ready, just be patient and you’ll do it,” he said and Magnus sighed, giving him a little nod, his grip around the walker tightening and he cursed, because his hands were getting sweaty, making it unable for him to keep a good grip. Because of this, he straightened himself up, standing on his feet by himself and he quickly wiped his hands into his shirt, quickly grabbing the walker as he was about to lose balance.

“Okay, I’m ready,” announced Magnus, his heart beating faster again, but didn’t allow that to get him off track; he was determined to walk that, so that was exactly what he was going to do. A perfect way to surprise his boyfriend, who was going to be over pretty soon. That made Magnus determined enough not to allow worries get to him, but just as he was about to start moving, the door flung open, his eyes widening when he saw Camille Belcourt stepping inside of the room, the doctor as equally surprised as Magnus.

“Miss Belcourt, what are you-” started the man, but Camille lifted her hand and he stopped talking.

Magnus noticed that Camille looked angry, no angry wasn’t the correct word to describe it. She was _fuming_ with anger and Magnus had to wonder if that had to do anything with the fact that Alec decided to finally take the case to the court. In the past few days he managed to get in contact with other people were scammed by Camille and Chris, all of them more than eager to testify towards them and according to Alec, weren’t even that shocked when they found out that there were more people who believed the lies the two monster told. It would still be too early to get a reply from the court, but maybe some of victims got in contact with Camille, or Chris.

“Get out,” said Camille and glared at the doctor. “I need to speak with Magnus alone,” she announced and Magnus lifted his eyebrow and looked over at the doctor, quickly shaking his head. He didn’t want to be left alone in the room with Camille.

“I must apologise, but Mr. Bane is just in the middle of therapy and it wouldn’t be wise for us to stop right now. He was just about to-” started explaining the man, not too fond of Camille as well from what Magnus could tell.

“You know what’s ever wiser? Not talking back to me if you love your job. At the end of the day, this is still my hospital and all I have to do is say and you’re going to be history, jobless,” said Camille, the doctor flinching and Magnus rolled his eyes.

“This isn’t your hospital, your parents own it,” said Magnus and gave Camille an unamused look.

“Shut up,” said Camille and glanced over to the doctor. “So, what’s it gonna be doctor? Leaving or staying?” she asked and looked over to the doctor, the man quickly apologising to Magnus, telling him that they would continue the therapy later and was on his way. Magnus cursed him for not having a better back bone, but he still understood why he left. Camille would probably be able to get him fired; just one phone call to her father and he would be out from the hospital. So, no, Magnus didn’t blame the man for quickly disappearing. But he did blame Camille; she was totally out of the line and was abusing the power she had over the staff in the hospital. It was like it was a playground, where she could do as she pleased. Camille closed the door of the room after the doctor had left and then turned around to face Magnus.

“Charming,” said Magnus sarcastically. “Toying with people and their lives like they were your personal pawns. I can see that it wasn’t just me,” he added and rolled his eyes when Camille opened her mouth to say something, but then quickly closed them and walked closer to Magnus, who was now struggling to stay onto his legs. He was straining muscles in his arms and legs so that he could keep standing in place and Camille noticed that Magnus’ body was shaking, a smirk spreading across her face. She _loved_ seeing Magnus so weak; it served him right.

“So,” she started. “What have you and your detective been up to lately?” asked Camille, Magnus grinning with a victorious smile, but then shrugged and gave her an innocent look.

“Nothing?” asked Magnus and grinned when an angry expression returned back onto Camille’s face. “Whatever do you mean, my sweet Camille?”

“Cut the crap, Magnus!” snapped Camille. “I’ve been contacted by… a person, who told me that they were approached by that Lightwood,” she said and made a short pause. “So, spill it. What are you guys planning?”

“A person? Another one of your exes that you ended up luring into marriage, right?” asked Magnus and Camille’s eyes widened. “Oh, yes, I know all about your past, Camille. Alexander did a bit of a search and funny thing happened,” he said. “You’ve been after wealthy people, luring them into marriage and then divorce every single one of them after a month?” he asked and shook his head. “I was the fourth victim, God, Camille,” said Magnus and made a short pause. “You’re such a greedy person that I can’t-” started Magnus, but then was cut off when Camille stormed closer to him and slapped him across the face.

The slap was hard and it completely caught Magnus off guard. He almost ended up falling to the floor, holding onto the walker for his dear life, but when Camille noticed that, she tore it from Magnus’ grasp, the older one letting out a loud yelp as he lost his balance. His stomach dropped, but luckily he was still close enough to the chair and quickly caught himself onto it, cursing loudly and he was picking himself up into a sitting position, his legs hurting like hell. Just as he sat down properly, Camille was there again, bringing her face dangerously close to his and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

“Listen to me, Magnus,” said Camille. “It’s time that you and your little boyfriend give it up,” she said. “If you don’t stop snooping around, I’ll make sure you’ll be sorry in the end.”

“Seriously? You’re trying to threaten me?” asked Magnus, placed his hands over Camille’s and pushed them away, rolling his eyes again and then he sighed. “You should know by now that you don’t scare me. What exactly are you gonna do if we don’t stop snooping around, huh? You know what, it’s finally time you pay for what you did, so… see you in court,” said Magnus and gave the other one a grin, which pissed Camille off even more.

It was at that exact moment that Camille realised she no longer had the same power over Magnus as she did months ago, which made her panic worsen, as did her anger. Someone talking back to her and showing her disrespect like Magnus was doing currently was out of question, so she decided to hurt Magnus where it hurt the worst. At first she didn’t know what to do, but as the door of the room opened and she saw detective Lightwood stepping inside of the room, she acted fast, grabbed the collar of Magnus’ shirt again and crushed their lips together. If Magnus wasn’t going to back away, then breaking him and Alec apart was going to bring her at least some satisfaction. She wanted to inflict more pain onto Magnus, more than she already had, and she was positive that the detective was going to lose his shit when he’d see the two of them locked together in an intimate kiss. Or at least plant a seed of doubt into Alec’s heart.

At first Magnus didn’t know what was going on, eyes widening when he was pulled in for a kiss and then quickly pushed Camille away, looking to the door where a very confused and angry Alec stood. As Alec came to the hospital that day, Catarina let him know where Magnus was and he wasted no time to go to his boyfriend. He was in a hurry to get to him; he had some good news about Camille’s and Chris’ case, so he quickly walked over to the room, shocked when he opened the door and saw the scene unfolding in front of his eyes. He saw Magnus sitting down on a chair, his lips locked with Camille’s, temperature of the room dropping and he quickly walked over to the two, Magnus pushing Camille away.

“Alexander, it’s not what it looks like,” stammered Magnus and quickly wiped his lips, wiping the horrible kiss away. Alec, on the other hand, grabbed Camille by her wrists and pulled her away from Magnus, because that was it; officially, he had it enough. Alec knew very well that it was Camille who took advantage of the situation, like Chris had that time. Like, seriously… what did she think? That he’d turn on Magnus just like that, after seeing them kiss? No. She clearly had no concept of what a true, real love was. It was such a high school mentality and Alec still couldn’t wrap his head around the whole thing.

“What do you mean, honey?” asked Camille in a disgustingly sweet voice as she was being dragged away. “Didn’t you like the kiss?” she asked and then glared at Alec, who was still holding her wrist and quickly pushed him away. “Don’t touch me,” she then said and started fixing her hair when Alec finally let go, but didn’t step away from her.

“Leave Magnus… leave us alone,” said Alec, his voice an octave lower and Camille grinned.

“Why should I?” asked Camille and shook her head. “There’s nothing that can make me-”

“Oh?” asked Alec with a cold voice. “How do a restraining order and five to ten years in prison for owning and using a forged ID sound?” he then asked and with that shut Camille’s mouth. Magnus, who was sitting behind Alec grinned, because even if he couldn’t see Camille’s expression, he knew that she must’ve been surprised, the anger no longer present. And he was right, Camille quickly backed down when Alec told her that and chewed on her lower lip.

“Five to ten years in prison?” she asked and Alec almost smiled.

“That’s the lowest penalty we’re looking at,” said the detective, now of course only bluffing, but he couldn’t hold back from messing around with the woman. It felt good to be the one in control for a change and the colour drained from Camille’s face.

“But, that’s-”

“Forgery of an identity document is a serious offence, Miss Belcourt,” said Alec. “Especially when you own more than one of them,” he then added.

“I don’t-” started Camille, but then bit her own tongue when she remembered that she shouldn’t be talking anymore without her lawyer. “I don’t what you’re talking about, I’m innocent,” said Camille, straightened her clothes and walked over to the door, wanting to get the hell out of there. She needed to speak with Chris and their lawyers. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyers,” she then added when she standing at the door.

Magnus waved her goodbye in a sarcastic manner. “See you in a court room, _honey_ ,” he said and grin spread across his face when he heard Camille groaning and cursing when she was outside. As soon as Camille was gone, a wide smile cracked Alec’s expression and he started laughing silently as he walked over to Magnus, who wore a smile on his face as well, humming in delight when Alec leaned down and pressed their lips together.

“Hey,” said Alec softly and Magnus closed his eyes when Alec leaned his forehead against his.

“Hey,” said Magnus with a chuckle. “Look, about before what you saw. I mean, Camille and-”

“You don’t have to explain, Magnus,” said Alec and shrugged. “I know she forced herself on you,” he said and then got down onto his knees, so that he was closer to Magnus and looked up, placing his hands over Magnus’ knees. “Besides, I’m in a good mood and I don’t really want to discuss… that,” he said. “Man, it felt good putting her in her place.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Magnus and nodded in agreement. It was funny to think about how in a hurry she was to leave.

“Done with the therapy for today? I was thinking we could go somewhere again,” said Alec and Magnus shrugged.

“Not really,” said Magnus. “Camille interrupted us, so we haven’t really even started,” he then added. “Which really sucks, because I was about to try start walking,” he then added and huffed under his breath. “Just as I final gathered enough courage, she came in and ruined everything,” said Magnus and crossed arms on top of his chest.

“I’m so sorry,” said Alec, feeling his heart fasten a bit when he learned that Magnus was attempting to start walking that day. It would be such a shame if he wasn’t there to witness Magnus taking his first steps, so maybe in a way, it was a blessing that Camille interrupted before. “Want me to get that doctor for you?” he asked and Magnus shrugged, no longer feeling like walking again. “And if you want, um, I could be here as well? I mean, if you need support or-”

“Yes, that I’d love,” said Magnus without thinking twice about it, Alec smiling as he leaned up to kiss the other one final time.

“Awesome,” said the detective. “You wait here and I’ll go get the doctor,” he then quickly added and Magnus gave him a little nod, taking in a deep breath as he waited for his doctor to come. Before he was able to somehow overcome the nervousness, but that time he didn’t feel nervous at all, knowing that Alec was going to be by his side, smiling as he looked down and saw the ring Alec gave to him while he was still in a coma. He gently grazed it with his fingertips and then brought his hand up and placed a kiss over it and his heart warmed up.

* * *

“Okay, so here it’s like it’s gonna be,” said Catarina, who was in a room with Magnus and Alec. She decided to replace the previous doctor, because that was what Magnus wanted. “I’ll be standing by your side as you try to walk, okay?” she said and Magnus nodded slowly, looking over to Alec, who was standing not too far from his wheel chair and Catarina gave the detective a little nod. “You try to make your way over to Alec,” she then said, knowing that having Alec being his final destination would be good enough of a motivation to get Magnus going. “And fret not, I’ll be by your side and catch you if you happen to fall down,” she said. “Which you won’t,” she then quickly added when she saw Magnus flinching.

“No need to be nervous about it,” said Alec softly and Magnus looked over at him as he was still sitting in the wheel chair. “You can do it, I believe in you,” he then added, winking and Magnus gave him a weak smile, nodding. Before, he felt courageous with knowing that Alec was going to be there, but now he wasn’t so sure and confident in himself anymore.

“Right,” stammered Magnus and took his time to get onto his feet, this time feeling that his body was weaker than before, which wasn’t really a surprise since he had tired himself out earlier. However, he didn’t want to let Catarina and Alec down, so he decided to suck it up and he managed to gather enough power, gripping onto the walker strongly, feeling more confident when he looked into Alec’s direction. The other was standing just a few steps from him, Magnus feeling his heart fasten when the other opened up his arms.

“Come here and give me a hug,” said Alec softly, urging Magnus to come closer and the older one swallowed thickly, looking over at Catarina, who was standing by his side and she gave him a little nod of encouragement as well.

“Alec’s right, you can totally do it,” she said. “You’re The Magnus Bane, after all.”

“Yes,” said Magnus to himself and chewed on his lower lip, taking a deep breath in. “I can do this,” he said to himself, closed his eyes for a second and then decided to finally stop stalling. He squeezed the walker tighter, his knuckles going white to the bone and then slowly moved it towards Alec for a few inches. Then he looked down and focused on moving his legs. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that difficult, his right leg slowly moving forwards and he almost laughed from happiness when he took his first step after months.

When Alec saw Magnus taking his first step, his heart melted and he felt so, so proud. His face was hurting from how much he was smiling, but he couldn’t really help it; Magnus had come so far and his eyes welled up as Magnus took another step closer to him, feeling chocked up. As Alec glanced over at Catarina, he saw that her eyes were wet as well and he chuckled when Magnus was really close now to him, only a step away.

Magnus was exhausted, but his good mood gave him enough adrenaline and strength to take one final step towards Alec. His breathing was laboured, his muscles hurting from how much he was straining them, but he didn’t care, it was all worth it in the end. “I made it,” said Magnus, breathless and looked up at the taller man, holding himself up on his legs and laughed happily. “C-can I get that hug now?” he asked and Alec could only nod.

Alec stepped close to Magnus and wrapped an arm around his waist, helping him stand up as Catarina took away the walker, Alec wrapping his other arm around his boyfriend’s waist. Magnus felt his body heating up and he quickly wrapped his arms around Alec’s neck as he felt his knees buckling.

“You did so well,” said Alec, Magnus beaming up at him when he received the praise. In a way, it was a perfect reward and he chuckled when held him firmer when he felt his knees buckling again. Magnus didn’t mind standing in that position for a little longer; he enjoyed feeling Alec’s arms being wrapped around like this and his body melted against Alec’s. “Feeling tired?” asked Alec and Magnus shook his head. Maybe earlier he had been tired, but now he wasn’t anymore. He had a feeling like he could walk a whole mile.

“Not at all, darling,” said Magnus and let out a small yelp when Alec unwrapped one of his arms away from his waist, so that he could pick him up bridal-style. Now, he knew that Magnus liked to be in control, but it was pretty clear to the detective that his boyfriend was barely holding himself up on his legs, so he decided to pick him up. And Magnus didn’t mind it at all, laughing when he was suddenly swept off his own two feet literally. “Where are we going?” asked Magnus when Alec started walking with Magnus in his arms.

“Um, to your room?”

“Hold your horses, Alec,” said Catarina and smiled. “I still need to do a few check-ups on Magnus,” she then said. “After that, you’re free to take your boyfriend wherever you want,” she said and Magnus hummed in delight at the word ‘boyfriend’. Alec nodded and did as Catarina told him, waiting patiently by their side as she and Magnus did a few more exercises for his legs and feet. When they were done, Magnus turned to Alec.

“I don’t wanna go to my room though,” said Magnus and pouted. “Let’s go somewhere,” he then suggested. “It’s still early.”

“Sounds good,” said Alec, because he would much rather spend time outside the hospital. During the last week, he and Magnus went out quite a lot of times and both of them enjoyed to the fullest. “Where would you like to go?” he asked and Magnus shrugged.

“I don’t know yet,” said Magnus and then a great idea popped into his mind. Catarina’s shift just ended and Ragnor said that he was going to pay him a visit that day. “Cat, wanna come along? Ragnor said that he’s coming over today, so I’ll send him a text and tell him we’re going out, I’m sure he’d say yes,” suggested Magnus and Catarina nodded.

“I’d like that very much,” said Catarina and looked over at Alec. “That is if Alec agrees.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Alec and shrugged, not really minding the company. The more, the merrier, right? Besides, he liked Magnus’ friends, so it would be refreshing to hang out with them for a change. Usually, it was Alec’s family and friends that were hanging out with Magnus at the hospital.

“Great,” said Magnus and let out a happy sigh. “I’ll text Ragnor and then we can get going.”

After Magnus made sure that Ragnor was in the mood to go out, all four of them headed out and went to the nearby mall. While Ragnor and Magnus spent most of the time commenting and criticising the clothes in the stores, Catarina and Alec were walking behind them, chuckling. Magnus was completely in his element; he’s been out of contact from the fashion scene for quite a while, so in a way it felt like coming back home. The trip to the mall gave him a few ideas for his next collection, Alec smiling the entire time as he was listening to Magnus’ rambling about it and Ragnor’s comments, which were helping Magnus to come up with something that Alec was sure was going to look amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I used Icy's idea about Camille ''attacking'' Magnus and Alec coming to the rescue :). I hope you liked it ;)
> 
> Stay tuned, more will be posted soon ^^
> 
> Do leave a comment :)


	30. Chapter 30

Magnus was freaked out, curled up in his bed, his eyes closed and he didn't dare to open them. He didn't know what was going on, but he was sure that he started slowly losing his mind. Even though his therapy was going well and was walking more and more lately, a few days ago something strange started happening to the man. He didn't even want to admit it to himself, but Magnus started seeing things that weren't really there. Not exactly things, but people, which made the whole situation even worse. Here and there he would see people flash in front of his eyes, but when he'd take another look at them, to see if they were real, they disappeared into thin air and all of that was starting to make Magnus paranoid, refusing to leave the bed. If he stayed in his room with his eyes closed, then he was okay.

Magnus, of course, didn't tell anyone about it. Even though people around him, especially Alexander, saw that he was constantly looking around to find something that wasn't really there, no one really said anything to Magnus. Magnus slowly opened his eyes and looked around his room, letting out a sigh of relief, because the coast seemed clear. At first, Magnus saw the people only on the hospital's hallways, but lately they started appearing in his room as well and he didn't know what to make of that.

What freaked him out even more was how they looked, or the way they would look at him. All of them were pale and their eyes had no life in them. They appeared almost like zombies, the hallucination of one little girl scaring poor Magnus the most. She appeared in the corner of his room, lifted her hand and pointed at him. The people would move their mouth, but luckily Magnus couldn't hear that. At least, he wasn't that far gone. Magnus took in a deep breath as he forced himself to keep his eyes open, smiling because his hallucinations appeared to be gone. Or so he thought.

Another thing that freaked out Magnus was the fact that he couldn't seem to control his emotions lately. One moment, he would be his old usual self, but at another moment he couldn't recognise himself at all. He had sudden outbursts of anger or sadness, sometime it was difficult to breathe because he felt so many emotions at once. Magnus knew that they weren't his feelings, but it made no sense. Whose emotions was he experiencing, then? That sent chills down Magnus' spine and he tried telling himself that he was just making things up.

Magnus tried to be rational. He wasn't losing his mind, no. It was probably because he spent too much time behind four walls. He needed to go out more! Maybe he and Alec could go somewhere that day again. Anywhere was fine, just not the hospital, because it was giving Magnus anxiety. "I'm going to be fine," he muttered to himself and nodded. Saying that out loud, giving himself a little pep talk, made Magnus feel better and he believed in his own words. He was just imagining things and all of that was going to go back to normal.

Alec, on the other hand, who was on his way to the hospital, was officially done with teenagers. The ghost of the teenage girl was still hanging around, currently sitting in the passenger's sit as he was driving and no matter what he did, she wouldn't leave. While it was fun when she'd chase around Jace, he was sick of her. What was even worse that they still didn't solve her murder. Their main suspect, the victim's friend, had a solid alibi for the time of her death and so the case reached dead end. But that didn't seem to bother Marissa, of course not. So Alec was stuck with dealing with the ghost of an annoying teenager. Luckily, she didn't follow him home, but she followed him everywhere else. The only thing that made Alec somewhat happy was knowing that she was still haunting Jace, following him home as well. There, what goes around, comes around. Jace was messing with him when Magnus was stalking him and now he got himself a stalker.

"So, where are we going?" asked Marissa happily, Alec arching an eyebrow and then rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to pay my boyfriend a visit," he said and looked over to the spirit as he stopped his care, red light at the traffic light and shook his head. "You're not coming with me, no," he said and rolled his eyes when he saw insulted expression on Marissa's face. "I've been dealing with you for the entire day, give me some space," whined Alec, driving again as the red light changed into green.

"But-"

"Can't you go bother Simon?” asked Alec at wit’s end.

“But Simon’s a nerd and he’s boring,” whined Marissa and rolled her eyes, Alec doing the same and he shook his head. He didn’t know what to do. Having Marissa tagging along with him at the hospital was something he didn’t want to happen. Alec just wanted to spend some time alone with Magnus after the long day he had, but no, of course that had to get ruined by Marissa! Alec forced a kind expression on his face, but he wasn’t fooling anyone, not even Marissa.

“Well,” said Alec and grabbed the steering wheel tighter, trying not to lose his patience, but he was already walking on thin ice. “You can’t come with me.”

“I’d love to meet your boyfriend,” said the spirit, talking back and Alec only groaned, but firmly shook his head.

“No, Marissa, this needs to stop,” said Alec and rolled his eyes again. “I agreed to help you and I promise me and Jace will come to an end to your case, but you need to stop following me everywhere. I know that you’re lonely, but-”

“Ugh, you’re such a buzzkill. Never mind, I always liked Jace better. I’ll go see what he is doing,” said Marissa and before Alec could tell her that his partner was probably spending time with his girlfriend, the spirit had already disappeared. Alec considered calling Jace, but then at the end decided that he shouldn’t bother, he wasn’t in the mood to be talking to the blond anyway now that he was with Clary. From past experiences, Alec knew not to bother his friend when he was with his girlfriend, learning it the hard way. He took in a deep breath and smiled when an image of Magnus flashed in front of his eyes, Marissa long forgotten.

When Magnus received a text from Alec, saying that he was over at the hospital, he immediately replied that he was already waiting for him and for the time being, he somehow managed to push his hallucinations away and he much rather focused on the fact that Alec was coming over, which made his good mood return almost immediately. Magnus had a few questions that he prepared to ask, which were all connected to the case. It was a few days since Alec set the whole case in motion and he was interested to see if he had any information back from the court. He knew that it was probably still a bit too soon, but everything was better to talk about than to be thinking about things he started to see, flinching when suddenly a man appeared in the corner of his room and he felt sick down to his stomach.

Magnus’ heart started beating like crazy and he quickly rubbed his eyes, looking towards the corner again, only to find it empty again. That sent chills down Magnus’ back and he gulped, feeling his throat going dry and he had to tell himself that he was going to be okay. Alexander was there and once the other would come up to his room, the hallucinations would disappear. As he started to calm down, an image of a young girl, wearing a robe flashed in front of his eyes and he could swear that he could see her mouthing _help me._ He straightened himself up in his bed and in the next moment, she disappeared, leaving the poor man even more disturbed than he was before, his eyes welling up as suddenly sadness filled his heart and he didn’t even know why tears suddenly started streaming down his face.

The feeling of sadness and regret was almost unbearable. But when he’d think about why he felt that way, he couldn’t think of anything. His sadness turned into anger when suddenly an image of another man flashed in front of his eyes, freaked out, because he could swear that the other was coming closer to his bed and Magnus quickly closed his eyes, feeling too chocked up to breathe. It was getting too hard to breathe. One was the fear of the people that kept appearing in front of his eyes and the other were all of the emotions he was experiencing. The air was so thick in the room and he just wanted to get the hell out, but he couldn’t move. How could he, if he knew that the people were probably going to follow him?

A moment later, true panic started setting in, because three different people appeared close to Magnus’ bed, all of them mouthing the same thing; _help us._ Magnus let out a loud yelp and then quickly closed his eyes, placing his hands on top of his ears and he curled up into a ball again, gasping for air as the tension in the room only grew and he had a feeling that he was going to explode or have a heart attack. Maybe that was it? The hallucinations had brought him on the verge of having a mental break down and all that he could do was to quietly sob in the bed.

As soon as Alec set a foot inside of the hospital, he could feel that something was wrong. There was this… tension and he could feel that a lot of spirits had to be at the same place. During his visits to Magnus, he saw many of the ghosts in the hospital, but always pretended not to see them, because he didn’t want to get involved. It was enough that he had to deal with the ghosts at his work, so he decided to ignore the other ones, though they kind of felt sorry for him and he made a promise to himself that he’d start helping them, soon, not quite yet. He had a talk with Simon, who decided to help him with getting the spirits to cross over. Alec had to take in a deep breath and he then rubbed his palms together, heading straight up to Magnus’ room, leaving his worries about the lost souls in hospital for another day.

However, the closer he was to Magnus’ room, the worse he felt. Alec felt sick and when he was standing in front of Magnus’ room, he couldn’t breathe properly. There were so many emotions going through him and his eyes widened, because only then he realised that the feelings of distressed spirits were coming from Magnus’ room. He could tell that there were multiple ghosts, but he had to worry, why were such strong emotions coming from the inside of Magnus’ room? Did something happen to his boyfriend? Eyes wide with worry and horror, Alec quickly opened the door and was shocked when he saw the scene unfolding in front of his eyes.

Magnus was laying on his bed, in the middle of what looked like a panic attack, while there were seven different spirits standing around his bed, looking down at him. It was such a creepy scene and Alec finally realised why he felt so sick, but what shocked him even more was that Magnus seemed to feel the spirits as well. He was struggling to breathe and Alec’s heart broke when he heard Magnus begging to stop. The older one didn’t know who he was pleading to, but he just kept on saying ‘stop’ over and over again, because he had a feeling that he was going to have a heart attack. Alec frowned and quickly went closer; maybe the fact that there were so many spirits at one place created such a strong energy that even Magnus could feel them. Some people were more sensitive than others.

“Alexander,” stammered Magnus when he noticed that Alec was standing inside of the room and he grabbed his chest. “I can’t… breathe, I can’t,” he stammered as he struggled to breathe. “Something’s wrong… I’m-”

“Leave,” said Alec, who was now talking to the spirits, all of them looking into his direction, shocked to see that he was talking to them. Alec impatiently clicked with his tongue and he wasn’t going to make himself repeat twice. “There’s too many of you here, so leave. Can’t you see you’re gonna give him a heart attack?” snapped Alec and then just like that, all seven of them disappeared and Alec was finally able to breathe again normally.

As soon as Alec said that, the atmosphere in the room completely changed. The air didn’t feel heavy anymore and the feelings of sadness, guilt, anger and regret fled away, leaving Magnus confused as he quickly looked over at Alec. What the hell was going on? Just before it looked like Alec was speaking to someone… to the people he kept on seeing? Wait a minute, if Alexander could see them, then that meant- “Did you seem them too?” asked Magnus painfully slowly, Alec quickly walking to the bed, lifting an eyebrow.

“Did I see who?” asked Alec, taken back from the sudden question. The answer was more than obvious, but Alec knew that Magnus couldn’t see spirits, so it never really crossed his mind that Magnus was talking about seeing ghosts as well.

“The people,” breathed out Magnus as he got up into sitting position, his entire body shaking, Alec’s eyes widening and he quickly walked over to the bed. “I keep seeing _people_. They’re there one moment, but then they disappear and I, I don’t know. They keep asking me for help… I thought I was going crazy, but-but-”

Alec slowly made his way to the bed and then sat down onto his usual chair. “Your room was full of spirits when I came here, that’s why you couldn’t breathe. When there’s too many of them, then it can get overwhelming. Some people are more sensitive to their energy and emotions than other,” said Alec and even then the realisation that Magnus could see them as well started sinking in. “Wait, what did you say? You can _see_ them?” he asked and snapped back up, Magnus slowly nodding.

Hearing Alec say that he could see people as well made him feel a lot better, even though that meant that he somehow gained the ability to see the spirits himself. At least he knew that he wasn’t going crazy. However, he soon realised how crazy that sounded as well and he shook his head and sighed. Maybe he was just dreaming, there was no way that he had magically gained the ability to see spirits! “Yeah, I can see them. Sort of. I don’t know, it’s weird,” said Magnus and looked up at Alec, who looked visibly disturbed. “Is it possible?”

Alec kept silent for the next few moments as he tried to make sense out of anything. If he thought about it, yes, it made sense. Simon told him that he gained the ability to talk to the spirits after he had an accident and his heart stopped beating for a few moments before he was brought back to life. Same happened to Magnus. But that happened a long time ago, in a way, so that he only gained the ability now was weird to Alec. Then again, he didn’t really ask Simon how long after the accident he noticed that he was able to talk to the spirits.

“What do you mean you can sort of see them?” asked Alec carefully.

“I don’t know,” said Magnus under his breath and shrugged. “They keep flashing in front of my eyes. I can see them for a second or two and then they disappear. I don’t know how to explain it, Alexander, it’s weird,” he added and pressed his lips together. “It all started happening a few days ago and since then they keep appearing in front of my eyes. I can’t make them go away.”

“This has been going on for a few days now? Oh, Magnus, you should’ve told me sooner,” said Alec and could only imagine how freaked out Magnus felt during the past few days. And what was even worse that he didn’t even see that something was off with Magnus. Then again, he was busy with building up the case against Chris and Camille, so he didn’t really have the time to worry about other things. But, still, that was no excuse to oversee Magnus’ problems like that.

“I know, I know,” said Magnus and shrugged. “I was just freaked out and I didn’t want to admit it even to myself that I was seeing things,” he said and sighed. “I thought that I was going crazy or something like that.”

“Well, good thing is that you aren’t,” said Alec and chewed on his lower lip. “But the bad part is that you’ll have to deal with annoying and obnoxious ghosts from now on,” he then added and wrinkled his nose when he remembered Marissa. Well, now Magnus would have the unpleasant chance to meet her after all.

“I still don’t get it,” stammered Magnus. “How can I see them all of the sudden?” he asked, surprised to see Alec taking things so calmly. It was like he wasn’t even freaked out a little.

“Same thing happened to Simon,” said Alec. “Years ago he was in an accident and was pronounced dead for a few moments. Ever since they brought him back, he can hear the spirit world,” explained Alec and a frown formed in between Magnus’ eyebrows. “It seems that some people, after they come in contact with the afterlife, that they gain the ability to contact with it afterwards. If you think about it, it’s the same with you. Your heart stopped beating as well,” said Alec, his heart twisting in pain when he remembered that day. “The only thing that I don’t get it is why it took you so long to start seeing them.”

“How long did it take Simon to start seeing them?” asked Magnus and Alec shrugged.

“No idea,” said the younger one and sighed. “I think I need to pay him a little visit and ask him about it,” he then added and shrugged, Magnus only nodding as he was still trying to process everything. So, he had the ability to see ghosts now. Great, really great, thought Magnus and buried his face into his palms, Alec biting into his lower lip, because he understood how the other felt. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” said Alec and placed a hand on top of his head. “Maybe it’s not permanent, maybe it’ll go away. And even if it sticks with you, it’s not as bad as you think,” he said, trying to cheer up Magnus, who slowly looked up and shrugged again.

Magnus didn’t know what to think of it; it would take him a lot of getting used to the fact that he could see the spirit world. The only thing that he was thankful was that Alexander could see them as well, which made the whole situation better, kind of. Magnus gave a weak smile to his boyfriend and the other one sighed, deciding that it was best to call Simon as soon as it was possible. It didn’t take too long for the other to pick up and Alec begged him to come to the hospital, because he couldn’t talk about that over the phone, Magnus patiently waiting in the bed as Alec made the phone call.

* * *

“Oh my God, you can see the spirits too?” asked Simon, excited. He had arrived to the hospital not too long ago and Alec explained to him everything that went down, Magnus just sitting there silently, listening to the two of them. When he was spoken to, he only nodded and shrugged. “That’s not fair, I wanna see them as well. Why do you two have the coolest part of the gift?” he then whined and then huffed under his breath. “Damn, there’s more of us than I first thought,” added the medical examiner, who was now talking to himself and Magnus glanced over at Alec, who gave him a little smile, but didn’t get one back in return. Magnus was still freaking out.

“It’s not really as cool as you think, Sheldon,” said Magnus and chewed on his lower lip. “Especially if they keep appearing and disappearing,” he then added and Simon gave him a little nod, because he knew what he was going through. While Alec was born with the gift, Simon got it later on in life, just like Magnus now, so he knew how difficult it was to actually accept the fact that one could communicate with the afterlife.

“What do you mean by appearing and disappearing?” asked Simon.

“Exactly what I said,” said Magnus and rolled his eyes. “If I want to take a better look at them, they disappear. It’s like I can’t focus on them and-”

“That’s because your gift only started developing,” explained Simon and Magnus arched an eyebrow. His gift was only developing? Well, that was just great then, wasn’t it?! “When did you start seeing them?”

“About a few days ago,” said Magnus under his breath.

“It was the same with me,” said Simon, hoping that that would somehow calm Magnus down. “Weeks after I’ve recovered from my accident, I started hearing things,” said Simon, shuddering when he remembered how traumatic and scary experience that was. “At first it was whispers, following me everywhere for a few weeks. I thought I was losing my mind, quite honestly,” he said and took in a deep breath, Magnus straightening himself up a little bit when he heard that Simon had a difficult time accepting the gift as well. “I was _this_ close to completely give up, but then the whispers transformed into full conversations,” said Simon and pressed his lips together. “I, um, one night I was talking to a voice, how I’d call it back then, and it told me that they were a ghost. Well, of course I didn’t believe it at first, but then they proved me wrong as the spirit moved a few things in my apartment and it was then that I finally accepted the fact that I really can talk to the dead,” he said and looked over to Magnus, who was now just taking everything in.

“Is there a chance that he might lose the ability?” asked Alec, who was thinking out loud, but still looked over at Simon, who just shrugged, because he honestly didn’t know.

“No idea,” said Simon. “Maybe, everything’s possible I suppose,” he said and sighed when he saw how pale Magnus’ face was and he took in a deep breath. “Look, I know it’s a lot to accept and process, but look it on a brighter side,” said Simon. “At least you have someone to help you out,” he said and pointed to himself and Alec. “The two of us had to figure it out on our own,” he said. “Trust me, it’s no fun.”

“That’s true,” said Magnus and slowly nodded. “It’s just-”

“It’s gonna be fine, Magnus, I promise,” said Alec and placed his hand on top of Magnus’ linking their fingers together. Magnus looked down and mustered a smile as he looked back up, staring into Alec’s hazel eyes and exhaled deeply. “You’re gonna see that ghosts don’t mean any harm, they are just in a need of help,” said Alec then. “Remember how distressed you felt?”

“Yeah, how can I forget?” choked out Magnus, who now felt sorry for all of the lost souls wandering around the hospital.

“Well, there you go,” said Simon and gave him a warm smile. “You’ll see, it’s great once you get control over it,” he added.

“Can’t wait,” said Magnus bitterly and Alec chuckled softly and leaned in to plant a kiss against his temple.

After that, Magnus allowed Alec to hug him and he wrapped his own arms around the other, holding Alec close. He enjoyed the feeling of Alec’s body against his own and he started slowly accepting that whatever was going on with him was indeed reality and not a nightmare. Maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad. Magnus liked helping people and he knew how miserable felt when he was stuck as a spirit, so helping the other souls out was going to bring some inner peace to him. Or so he thought, until the spirit of the young girl appeared in the corner of the room again, pointing at him, wearing a creepy grin on his face. Magnus let out a loud yelp and Alec quickly turned around when he saw where Magnus was staring at, rolling his eyes when he saw spirit of a little girl. Alec knew for a fact that she now just messing around with Magnus; she was just a child after all.

“Hey,” said Alec and the girl looked over at him. “Don’t tease him, okay?” he ordered and the girl stuck her tongue out.

“You’re no fun too!” she whined and then disappeared, Simon laughing next to the two of them.

“It’s really bad when even ghosts find you dull,” said Simon and started laughing when Alec gave him an offended look.

“You’re not as fun as you think either,” said Alec. “Just ask Marissa.”

“Who’s Marissa?” asked Magnus.

“A very annoying spirit,” said Simon, unamused. “What did she say about me?”

“That you’re a boring nerd,” said Alec and Magnus chuckled.

“Oh, very nice,” said Simon, annoyed. “Especially after I was entertaining her for hours yesterday. Jesus,” said Simon and buried his face into his palms. “That girl is a nightmare.”

“Tell me about it,” said Alec. “The only good thing is watching her chase Jace around,” he said, a little grin appearing on his face and Simon had to nod in agreement. As Simon and Alec kept on complaining over the annoying teen, a smile grew on Magnus’ face and he finally somehow managed to accept the current situation, happy to have the other two by his side. But, he still had a long way to go to be completely okay over the fact that he could see spirits now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was okay! I thought it was good as I was writing it, but when I was re-reading it, I don't know... I don't like it as much as I used to tbh. Tell me what your opinion about it, lol. Hopefully you guys liked it :)
> 
> Also, thanks for all of your support, it means a lot, xxo <3


	31. Chapter 31

Alec was slowly making progress in his latest case against Camille and Chris. So far, he had talked about both of Chris' former partners and earlier that day, he had a talk about one of Camille's ex-husbands. The two of Chris’ former partners were both put through so much, but nothing could compare what Camille put her the poor man through Alec talked with earlier that day. He could only thank the god and the angels that he and Magnus didn’t fall for their lies. The man had lost completely everything; once, he used to be a successful CEO of a popular magazine, but then everything went south as soon as Camille walked into his life. Not only that she caused him great emotional burden, but she also made his business go bankrupt. Only after the divorce he found out that she was stealing the profit of his company and what he didn’t lose for his divorce alimony, he had lost in the debts he had to pay off that Camille caused.

Prior he had gotten with Camille, he had a happy life and had a lovely girlfriend and he cursed the day he laid his eyes on Camille. The woman knew how to use her charms into her benefit and he ended up falling for her, leaving his girlfriend and it didn’t take too long until he asked Camille to marry her. Even though he was kind of freaked out how fast Camille wanted to move the wedding along, he honestly didn’t worry about it too much. He was so head over heels for her that he allowed the logic to fly out of the window. He told Alec that his girlfriend wanted to go back into his life and wanted to tear him and Camille apart. According to her, she knew quite some things about Camille and now he was regretting that he didn’t listen to his ex-girlfriend. She was just trying to warn him about Camille, but back then he was sure that she was just being jealous.

And the worst part about everything; his ex-girlfriend suddenly disappeared short after she started snooping around Camille. He didn’t think of it too much at the time, but began freaking out after the divorce. He wanted to come back in contact with her, but she was nowhere to be seen. He filled in a missing person’s report almost a year ago, but she was still missing, Alec’s heart falling to the pit of his stomach when he noticed that the man didn’t come alone. He had a ghost attached to him and after the man mentioned having a girlfriend prior to his marriage, it wasn’t really rocket science; she was her.

Alec was beginning to be more worried, this was getting more than he bargained for. At first, he just wanted to get his revenge on Camille and Chris for being shitty people and con artists, but now he was begin to fear the worst; what if there was murder involved in the whole thing? The man said that his former girlfriend went missing as soon as she started snooping around Camille and that worried Alec. He knew that Camille was bat shit crazy, but he didn’t think she would go to such lengths to make her scam work. Jesus. As he was talking to the man, the spirit noticed that he could see her, so after he left, the spirit stayed around and Alec was glad about that, because they needed to have a serious talk.

Alec, who was currently in his office, was dealing with some paper work on the case he and Jace were working; The Marissa case. They were slowly making some progress; Marissa finally remembered something about the night she died. She remembered going to the court yard behind her high school and the last person she saw there was one of her professors. Now, Alec doubted that the professor actually did it, but so far that was their only suspect and Jace was currently in the interrogation room with that mentioned professor. Alec sighed and looked outside the office, where the other spirit was waiting for him. He signed the woman that she could come inside. She saw him and in the next moment, she was sitting on one of the chairs inside of the office, but still, she said nothing.

The spirit of the man’s ex-girlfriend was different than the others Alec saw so far. She looked so afraid and she refused to talk. The only thing she did was sit on the chair and stare in front of herself, eyes locked on the wall in front of her, Alec sighing as he kept on observing her. “You can talk here,” whispered Alec, the spirit flinching and he pressed his lips together. Alec could sense her fear, she was terrified. Just what the hell did Camille do to her? “I’m not going to hurt you,” tried Alec again and horrified expression came upon her face, holding a finger in front of her lips, telling him to stay quiet.

Alec nodded in the end, not wanting to frighten her too much and in the end, he just kept on observing her, trying to figure out what happened. She looked completely normal; her blonde hair were styled in a perfect hairdo, her makeup intact, it were just her eyes that were throwing Alec off. Her big, blue eyes were filled with tears, pain and fear, which shook Alec right to his core and he had to remind himself not to keep on staring at her. Alec had to wonder; someone as pretty as her had to be a model. And Camille was working in the fashion world as well, so maybe they had met before? Those were all just empty speculations, of course, Alec didn’t know what to do. If she wouldn’t talk, then…

As Alec was in the middle of thinking, there was a knock at the door, Alec looked up and sighed. “Come in,” he said, expecting to see Luke there, but he was pleasantly surprised, almost shocked, to see Magnus opening the door. As soon as Alec saw him, he was literally catapulted onto his legs and he held the door open, so that Magnus could come inside.

“Hey,” said Magnus happily once he was inside and grinned when Alec leaned in to give him a welcome kiss. That day, Magnus had nothing to do and when he learned that Catarina had some free time, he asked his friend if she could drive him down to the station, where Alec worked at. He had been dying to visit Alec, so because Magnus had no other plans that day, Catarina agreed to take Magnus to the station. Even though Magnus was making progress in his therapy, he still decided to take his wheel chair with him; he didn’t know how much walking he’d have to do and he still lacked stamina, so it was the best way to go.

“Hey!” said Alec happily when he pulled back and a frown formed in between his eyebrows. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“What, aren’t you happy to see me, Detective Lightwood?” asked Magnus innocently and Alec chuckled. It wasn’t that; he was just surprised. It was usually him who was paying Magnus visits, but it was a nice surprise! More than nice, actually, was what Alec decided on.

“Of course I’m happy to see you,” said Alec with a smile and glanced over to the chair and he noticed that the spirit was gone now, which didn’t really surprise him. She was a very timid one, so he decided to let it go for the time being. She was going to return anyway, they always did. With that on his mind, Alec decided that he would much rather give all of his attention to Magnus. “What brings you here?”

“Well,” started Magnus. “Cat’s shift was over and she agreed to drop me off here,” said Magnus with a grin. “You don’t mind, do you?” he then asked, because for a second there, it looked like Alec was dealing with a lot and he really didn’t want to come in a way of Alec’s work.

“Of course not,” said Alec. “Besides, I’ll soon be on my break, so we can go out to grab something to eat quickly. What do you say?” he asked and a bright smile came upon Magnus’ face, quickly nodding, because a lunch out with his boyfriend sounded more than pleasant.

* * *

Alec took Magnus to a fast food restaurant, which was the closest to the station. Magnus wrinkled his nose, because eating in fast food restaurant was something that he hated, but he made no actual complaint and went along with it. After the ordered their food, Alec carried their plates to one of the empty tables, Magnus going right behind him and a bright smile spread across Alec’s face when Magnus was now sitting next to him, laughing when he saw the way Magnus was looking at the food. He wore a suspicious look on his face; Alec didn’t know who was going to eat who; Magnus the food, or was the food going to attack and eat Magnus.

“You know, the food’s actually pretty good here,” said Alec in amusement and shook his head when he saw Magnus forcing a little smile. “If I had more free time, we could go somewhere else, but this is literally the only thing I can afford with the amount of time I’m given for lunch,” he then added, not really liking fast food as well, but it was what it was. It wasn’t _that_ bad, Magnus just tended to be overdramatic, was what Alec knew all too well.

“You poor thing,” said Magnus and shook his head. “I’ll need to have a talk with your boss to give you more free time. I mean, this is no way to live,” he then complained, but smiled when he saw that Alec was quietly laughing next to him. “You’ll see, after we move in together, I’ll make sure you have cooked meal with you every day,” he then added and Alec felt his heart skipping a beat. It always did that when Magnus talked about their future together.

“Oh yeah?” asked Alec and his smirk grew when he remembered Magnus’ attempt at cooking when he was still a spirit. “Well, if it’s gonna be anything like the last time you cooked for me, then I politely decline the offer,” teased Alec and Magnus gave him an odd look, because he didn’t cook for Alec yet. Until he remembered the tragedy in Alec’s kitchen when he was still a ghost and he rolled his eyes.

“Alexander, that doesn’t count,” said Magnus and pressed his lips together. “After you’ll taste one of my dishes, you won’t be able to resist anymore. You’ll see, I’m _that_ good,” he then added and waggled his eyebrows, Alec’s face heating up and he said nothing more, quietly munching on his French fries. Magnus, on the other hand, enjoyed himself when he saw that he still had the ability to make Alec blush like that and he just happily sighed, in the end giving in and started to eat the food as well. He was starving, just what was he supposed to do?!

“So,” said Alec after a while, his mouth full with food and Magnus wrinkled his nose. “How are you holding up? I mean, with the whole ghost thing and all,” said Alec and Magnus looked down, studying his food for a little while and in the end he only shrugged, because he didn’t know how he felt about it. To be honest, ever since that day, he didn’t really see another spirit. Here and there, he could feel them, but he couldn’t see them. He guessed that Alec scared them the last time, so maybe that was why they were holding back. Whatever might their reason be, Magnus was glad about that. He didn’t want to see them.

“I don’t know, fine I guess,” stammered Magnus and huffed under his breath and he then looked up at Alec. “I mean, I haven’t really seen anyone of them again after that. I can still _feel_ them, but that’s it,” he stammered and pressed his lips together. “In a way, that’s a lot better than actually seeing them. I don’t really… I don’t know. I just-”

“I totally get who you feel,” said Alec with a small voice and placed a hand on top of Magnus’, because he could sense that Magnus was feeling kind of uncomfortable and that was the last thing that Alec wanted to do. “Whatever Simon might think, seeing the spirits is more of a curse than a gift,” he then said and shrugged. “Then again, if it wasn’t for my _gift_ , then we would probably never meet,” he then added, who was more thinking out loud and Magnus gave him a little grin.

“That’s also very true,” said Magnus, his eyes now studying Alec’s thumb, which was caressing the back of his palm, so he chuckled and linked their fingers instead. “I just… it’s a lot of getting used to,” he then added and shrugged. “Is it possible that my gift will only consist of me feeling their emotions?” asked Magnus, who was genuinely curious and Alec nodded.

“That’s possible,” said Alec. “Simon did a bit more of research about the whole thing and there are different kinds of cases, according to him. Some people can see them, like me, or hear them, like Simon. Others can only sense their emotions, or even smell them,” said Alec and pressed his lips together, making a disgusted face. How did that work? Smelling the spirits? And how did they smell? Probably like rotten bodies? As that thought crossed his mind, he gagged and suddenly didn’t feel hungry anymore.

“Ugh, smell them?” asked Magnus and shuddered. Well, he guessed that he was lucky then. If his ability to see them wasn’t going really to develop, them he was stuck with only feeling and experiencing their emotions, which wasn’t all that bad in his opinion. “Yeah, I’m fine with seeing and feeling their emotions thank you very much,” said Magnus and Alec quickly nodded in agreement.

“Agreed. That must be horrible, I feel sorry for those people,” said Alec and then sighed. Speaking of spirits, he remembered the blonde woman from before and knew that he should probably tell Magnus what he found out. He already told Magnus all about Chris’ ex-partners, but he had yet to tell him about Camille’s ex-husband. “So, I spoke to one of Camille’s ex-husbands today,” suddenly said Alec and Magnus quickly looked at him.

“Great,” said Magnus, happy to know that the case was moving forward. “What did you find out?”

“More than I bargained for,” said Alec and Magnus arched an eyebrow. “Well, the first part of his story didn’t really surprise me that much. He was once a successful CEO of a fashion magazine, but then she completely ruined that. She stole money from the company, so by the time they got divorced, the company was in debts. What the poor man didn’t lose in the alimony, he lost when he paid off the debts for his company,” stammered Alec and Magnus shook his head.

“That bitch,” said Magnus and buried his face into his palms. “Why does she need the money? I’m still amazed. I knew that she was capable of many things, but to think that she tricked so many people to-”

“That’s not all, Magnus,” said Alec and Magnus frowned. Alec felt his stomach dropping and he took in a deep breath. “There’s more to the story. Before he had gotten with Camille, he had a girlfriend,” started Alec. “So, um, as he and Camille had gotten together, she started snooping around and from what I could tell, she probably found out that Camille was full of lies. Well, she wanted to tell him, to warn him, but then just like that, she went missing,” said Alec and Magnus shook his head, still not getting the whole picture. Camille would never stoop so low and actually hurt someone… would she?

“What are you trying to say?” asked Magnus quietly.

“The man… didn’t come alone,” stammered Alec and that sent chills down Magnus’ back. “A ghost of a young woman is attached to him. He didn’t tell me the exact description of his missing ex-girlfriend, but it isn’t really a secret. That’s probably her, Magnus,” said Alec and Magnus placed a hand over his mouth. “And if what he said is true… then Camille might-”

“No, even Camille isn’t that cruel, she would never,” said Magnus quickly, but then stopped talking, because he was shocked. Yes, at first he thought that Camille would never hurt someone, but how well did he know her? As it turned out, he had no idea to who he almost married and he rubbed his forehead. “I mean… I don’t know what to think anymore. This is all getting all too much,” sighed Magnus and Alec gave him a little nod, because he knew what he meant.

“I know,” said Alec and pressed his lips together. “Maybe it’s not even the ex-girlfriend and it’ll be difficult to prove it anyway. I mean, we don’t have the body and the spirit… she refuses to speak. She’s terrified, she wouldn’t even look at me,” said Alec and stopped talking for a few moments. “But if it turns out that all of this is true… if Camille did something to her, then I swear that I’ll make sure that Camille rots in prison for the rest of her life,” said Alec, because he was disgusted by the woman. Magnus said nothing, but he nodded and formed a fist with his hand, because he was beyond angry. Just how was Camille prepared to go to keep playing this little game of hers?!

* * *

It was late into the evening by the time Magnus went back to the hospital, Alec driving him back to the place. At first, he considered spending the night over at Alec’s place, but then changed his mind, because he had his therapy the first thing in the morning and Alec wouldn’t be able to drive him so early to the hospital, since he started work early in the morning as well. Currently, Alec and Magnus were in the older’s room, laying on the bed and in the middle of a heavy make out session. Alec was laying on the bed, Magnus on top of him, their lips connected in a hungry kiss, Magnus’ fingers tangled deep into Alec’s hair, while the other one was slowly lifting Magnus’ shirt, his fingers slipping underneath the shirt, making Magnus gasp when his cold fingers came in contact with his warm skin.

“Alexander,” moaned Magnus into Alec’s mouth.

“Hmm?” hummed Alec, enjoying himself to the fullest when Magnus gently pulled onto his hair and moved his head to the side a bit, so that he could plant kisses all over his exposed neck, Alec _giggling_ when the other’s hair tickled against his skin and Magnus quickly pulled back, supporting himself on his hands and he looked down at Alec, the other letting out a small whine of disappointment when the wonderful feeling of Magnus’ lips working magic against his neck disappeared.

“Why did you stop?” asked Alec.

“Detective Lightwood,” said Magnus and a grin grew on his face. “Did you just _giggle?_ ” asked Magnus and Alec’s face reddened again, quickly shaking his head.

“Of course not. I don’t giggle,” said Alec defensively.

“Hmm?” hummed Magnus, determined to show Alec that he was wrong. That was why he leaned down again, kissing up his way to Alec’s ear, hair tickling the detective’s neck again and Alec was horrified with himself when he heard himself giggle indeed, blush growing and Magnus only smiled as he pulled back. “You’re adorable, angel,” whispered Magnus and Alec rolled his eyes.

“Magnus, I’m detective,” said Alec. “I’m not adorable.”

“Of course you are,” said Magnus and kissed him again. “You’re adorable when you blush,” he said, kissing Alec’s forehead. “Or the way you stutter when you’re embarrassed,” he said and kissed Alec’s nose. “Then again, you’re adorable when you’re grumpy and angry as well,” he said playfully and Alec only rolled his eyes.

“Something must be wrong with perception of what adorable means, Magnus,” said Alec as a joke and wrapped his arms around Magnus, flipping them over carefully and Magnus waggled his eyebrows when Alec was now laying on top of him. “Much better,” said Alec, now that he was in control of the situation.

“I don’t mind this position at all,” said Magnus with a grin and closed his eyes when Alec kissed his again. As they kissed, Magnus leaned his head to the side and opened his eyes, the moment completely ruined when he saw someone standing in the corner of the room. There was a spirit, watching them, which was beyond creepy. But what was even more shocking was that Magnus knew the spirit. Even though he could see her only for a second or so, it was so clear who it was. It was his mother, there was no doubt about it. As he was about to make sure, the spirit disappeared, so Magnus quickly tapped Alec’s shoulder, who lifted himself up and gave him a confused look.

“Magnus, what’s wrong?” asked the detective when he noticed that Magnus’ face was white as a sheet. “Did I do something wrong?”

“N-no,” stammered Magnus and pointed to the corner of the room. “T-there’s someone watching us,” he then said and Alec rolled his eyes. Seriously, the spirits couldn’t leave them alone when they were getting it on? Alec groaned, but then narrowed his eyes when he turned around. There was no one in the corner that Magnus was pointing to.

“There’s no one there,” said Alec.

“B-but… I thought I saw…”

“Who?” asked Alec and slowly sat up onto the bed, looking around the room. It was weird, even if there was a ghost there before, he’d be able to feel their presence. Then again, he was doing something much more important, so maybe he missed that.

“My mom,” whispered Magnus, his heart dropping when he heard himself say that.

“Your mom?” stammered Alec and pressed his lips together when Magnus sat up as well and looked down. If Magnus really saw his mother, then that really meant that she was dead. All of those years, he still secretly hoped that she was alive, but if he really saw her then- “Maybe you were mistaken,” said Alec and Magnus shook his head.

“No, I’m sure I saw her,” he stammered and took in a deep breath.

“But there was no one there,” said Alec and Magnus gave him an annoyed look.

“I know what I saw,” stated Magnus stubbornly. “What are you trying to imply?”

“Nothing, absolutely nothing,” said Alec and bowed his head down apologetically. “I just… maybe it wasn’t her. You said that you can see the spirits for a second or so, right?” asked Alec and Magnus slowly nodded. “Well, maybe it was someone who looks like her and you just took a quick look at her, so,” he said and shrugged.

“You think so?” asked Magnus after a while, gripping on the very last straw of hope that his mother was still alive and out there. He didn’t want to believe she was actually…

“Yeah,” said Alec and weight lifted off of his shoulders when he noticed that Magnus decided to believe him. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay. You’ll see that it wasn’t really her,” whispered Alec and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, pulling him into a tight hug, Magnus feeling too chocked up to say something. He decided to believe Alec’s words, but deep inside, he wasn’t so sure. She looked exactly like his mother, he could even recognise her clothes!

And he was right, because the spirit of Anita reappeared right in front of the door of Magnus’ room and she placed her hand on top of the door, but didn’t dare to step inside, she didn’t want to frighten her son, tears streaming down her face. She had been searching for Magnus for over a decade, tears of relief rolling down her face when she saw that her boy was doing okay.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus is slowly accepting his new gift :)

Alec and Jace were in the interrogation room with Marissa's former professor, both of them beyond angry. In the past few weeks, Marissa grew on the two of them a lot, even though she was quite the obnoxious ghost, but in the end, she was still just a teenager. While Jace jumped down the professor’s throat as soon as he first interrogated him, Alec tried to defend him. In his eyes, professors were there to protect kids, not to hurt them. However, sadly, not all professors were good people and even though Alec tried his best to convince himself that he didn’t kill Marissa, but he soon realised that the man was at blame after all. At first, his story about his reason for being there at the court yard kept changing to the point he once even said in his statement that he wasn’t there at all. However, of course, his new alibi didn’t check out and luckily, Marissa remembered more about that night.

According to her, that night she planned to meet up with one of her friends behind high school and then they would go out to a party. However, as she was waiting for her friend, she saw something shocking; one of her classmates was being rather _intimate_ with their professor. Now, the man didn’t force himself upon her, but she still knew that it was wrong, not only because of their positions, but because her classmate was still very much underage, only 15 years old. And because Marissa was, well, Marissa, she decided to confront her professor and ended up threatening him that if he wouldn’t stop this, then she would go to the principle. She didn’t really mean it, but the man ended up believing her and in the heap of the moment as panic ensued, the man ended up grabbing the first thing that he found on the yard, which was a jumping rope and ended up silencing the teen forever, then running away and burning the ‘’murder weapon’’.

The three of them had been in the interrogation room for almost three hours, Alec and Jace trying to get out a confession out of him. It was more than obvious that he did it, but with the lack of physical evidence, they couldn’t really arrest him. However, Alec wasn’t really planning on letting the man go and after the given three hours, the professor finally started cracking down and as Jace pushed things a little further, they were finally able to get the confession out of him, both for sleeping with a student and for killing Marissa. Alec thought that it would make things easier when the man confessed, but it didn’t. Usually, it was kind of a bittersweet moment when they would catch a killer, but not this time. No one won, really.

Marissa, who was now present there as well, was furious. She couldn’t believe that a scum like that put an end to her life, Alec taking in a deep breath when he felt her anger, but then again, he was angry as well and if it was up to him, the man could be sentenced for death sentence. Alec firmed fists with his hands and looked over at Jace, who was now just looking at the professor and was trying to come up with the best way possible to make him suffer. When Alec tapped his shoulder was when he was snapped back to reality and he got onto his legs, walking over to the man and he took handcuffs into his hands, looking down at the man who was still sitting and was looking down, his entire body shivering from fear. It served him right, thought Alec and looked over at Marissa, who was sitting next to him and tears were slowly running down her face. She wanted to physically hurt the man, but she couldn’t muster up enough energy. Besides, it was too late.

“Arrest the bastard,” whispered Marissa and Alec gave her a little nod, then looked over at Jace, who pulled the man onto his legs, pressed him against the desk and cuffed his hands behind his back.

“You’re arrested for having sexual acts with a minor and for the murder of Marissa Lorenz,” said Jace as the other’s hands were cuffed behind his back and then he pushed him towards the door of the interrogation room, where policemen were already waiting for him and Jace gladly handed the man to them, because he couldn’t stand looking at him anymore, the man sickened him. “Get him the hell out of here,” said Jace and then walked back into the interrogation room, where Alec was still, but then decided that he probably shouldn’t be there, since it looked like Alec and Marissa were having a… moment.

“Why me?” asked Marissa with a little voice, looking at the cold wall in front of her and Alec shrugged, because he didn’t have an answer for that. “I was just trying to do the right thing, because what he was doing with my classmate wasn’t right. I just-”

“You did nothing wrong, Marissa,” whispered Alec and sighed. “He’s just a bad person, that’s all. There’s no other reason, don’t blame yourself,” he said and glanced at the spirit, who was growing more and more distressed, he could feel it. Alec puffed his cheeks and tried to come up with something, but nothing came to his mind. He wasn’t good with words, especially when it came to comforting people.

“He ruined it all,” said Marissa. “Because of him I’ll never be able to do what I wanted,” she stammered.

“What did you want to do?” asked Alec slowly.

“Either being an interior designer or something that would somehow connect to fashion,” said the spirit and looked down. “You know, I’d be very good at it, because I have good taste, obviously,” she said and Alec perked up at that. Wow, in some aspects, she was almost like a copy of Magnus. Not only that she was cocky, not in the annoying way, but she was interested in fashion as well. Who knew.

“That’s nice,” said Alec and Marissa only shrugged, her mood darkening even further and Alec knew that he needed to act fast if he wanted Marissa to stay her usual self and not allow sadness and guilt consume her, it would be such a pity. Alec sighed and finally thought of a good way to cheer Marissa up. “Hey, I have an idea,” said the detective, the teen looking over at him.

“What?”

“How about if we go pay my boyfriend a visit? I think you two will get along,” said Alec and Marissa gave him an odd looking, thinking that she wasn’t allowed to go there with Alec. “He’s a pretty famous fashion designer, so you two will have a lot to talk about,” he added and that cheered Marissa up a bit.

“Really?” she asked.

“Yep,” said Alec and then made a short pause. “Oh and just heads up, he can see spirits as well. Well, sort of,” said the detective and pressed his lips together. “My point being, he just gained the ability not too long ago and he still gets pretty freaked out about it, so-”

“Yes, yes. I’ll be on my best behaviour, detective,” said Marissa, appearing next to the door. “Come on, let’s get going,” she then said and Alec shook his head as a little smile appeared on top of his lips.

“Wait a bit,” said Alec. “I’m not done with work yet. When I finish, then we’re going,” he said and even though Marissa made a pout, she agreed in the end. As Alec made his way to his office, where Jace was already waiting for him, Marissa going with him, there was the spirit of the blonde girl waiting for him. However, she disappeared as soon as she noticed Marissa next to Alec and the detective let out an annoyed groan when the spirit was gone before he had the chance to talk with her.

“What’s her deal?” asked Marissa, because she did notice the other one a few times before.

“It’s a long story,” said Alec and ran fingers through his hair and went back to work. While Alec was working, Marissa decided that it was completely okay for her to mess around with Jace for a little while, pushing random things off of his desk and even though the blond was beyond annoyed, he said nothing, because Marissa was through a lot that day.

* * *

When Alec came to the hospital, he found Magnus chilling outside in the park the two of spend their first date at, a smile spreading across Alec’s face when he saw Magnus, the other’s mood lifting as well when he saw his boyfriend. It was lovely weather that day, so Magnus decided to go out for a little. He was slowly growing more and more tired of the hospital and while he technically still had therapy sessions, he could easily go home. However, his _home_ was with Camille, so that was why he was still hanging out at the hospital. Not only that, but that way he was also able to spend some much needed time with Catarina. As he was reading a book in complete peace, he looked up and grinned when he saw Alec in the distance, coming closer to him.

“Alexander, what a lovely surprise,” said Magnus happily when the other was close enough to him and Alec leaned down to press a kiss on top of his boyfriend’s head, making Magnus chuckle in the process and he watched how the detective sat onto the park bench, Magnus turning around, biting into his lower lip and he cocked his head. “You seem in a good mood,” commented the older one and Alec quickly nodded.

“Oh yeah,” said Alec happily. “I was finally able to solve the murder of that teenage girl I told you about, remember?” asked Alec, Magnus nodding and gave him a proud smile. That case was going on Alec’s nerves lately, so he was happy to see he was able to solve it; not that he ever doubted into the other’s abilities, he was the best detective after all!

“That’s great news, darling,” said Magnus and put the book down onto the bench and rubbed his palms together. “That sounds like a great reason to have a little celebration,” he then announced and Alec snorted, rising an eyebrow. “We should totally go somewhere,” suggested Magnus and then looked up at Alec, to see if he agreed.

“Maybe later, but first I’d like you to meet someone,” said Alec, looking kind of nervous and Magnus looked around the place and he frowned, because they were the only ones in the park, so he didn’t get it where Alec was going with that. “It’s, um, a spirit, so just a bit of a heads up?” he then said and Magnus flinched and said nothing. Alec wanted him to meet a spirit? Seriously? Why?

“A spirit?” asked Magnus slowly and Alec gave him a little nod.

“Worry not, it’s only Marissa, the girl I’ve been telling you about,” said Alec and while Magnus had to admit that she sounded quite interesting, he didn’t know how he felt about meeting an actual spirit. Alec saw the doubt written all over Magnus’ face and he gave him a compassionate look. “I think it’ll do you good. I mean, it’s easier to accept if you have contact with a spirit who’s… normal,” he said and looked up at Magnus, who slowly nodded, but then shrugged, not knowing if he felt the same way.

“That makes sense, yeah, I think,” said Magnus and gave Alec a weak smile, looking around the park, searching for any signs of the mentioned spirit, feeling weight lifting off of his chest when he couldn’t see anyone. Yet.

Marissa was actually there, just made herself invisible to Magnus’ eyes, but Alec knew that she was there with him, because she kept on asking if it was her time to show herself. Alec tried to keep a straight face, but at some point, he couldn’t hold it in and he cracked a smile. “Marissa, calm down,” said Alec to Marissa, who was sitting to his left and even though he couldn’t see her, he could for sure hear her and Marissa groaned.

“Oh come on, detective, I’ve been waiting for ages to finally meet your boyfriend,” said Marissa and pouted, rolling her eyes. “It’s not fair, you get to hog all of the hot guys. Simon, Jace and now him,” she said and made a face, shaking her head. “It’s unbelievable, you’re a magnet for hotties,” she whined and Alec arched an eyebrow and cleared his throat.

“Marissa, _focus,_ ” said Alec in his usual grumpy voice, Magnus’ face going pale when he realised that Marissa was there, he just couldn’t see her. What the hell was going on? “I told you, he’s new at this,” he said and looked over at Magnus, who was nervously biting down on his nails. “Marissa’s here, she’s just made herself invisible for the time being. But apparently _someone_ can’t handle being unnoticed anymore, so you’ll be able to see her now,” said Alec, Magnus slowly nodding and he almost smiled when he listened to Alec’s bickering with the ghost. It was quite something.

“Okay,” said Magnus slowly and started looking around. “Where is she?” he asked, but he soon got an answer, when he saw someone suddenly appearing on the bench next to Alec and he flinched, but didn’t feel too scared, because she looked completely normal, almost human. However, just in the next moment, she disappeared and Magnus narrowed his eyes, clicking with his tongue, because he couldn’t see her anymore. He hated not having this new ability under control yet and he looked over at Alec. “She’s still sitting there next to you, right?”

“Yeah, I’m still here,” said Marissa and gave Alec an odd look when she waved to Magnus, but received no reply. “Hey, I’m here!” she said, trying to get Magnus’ attention again and she then rolled her eyes. “Your boyfriend’s rude,” she then said and narrowed her eyes.

“He’s not rude,” said Alec and rolled his eyes. “Like I’ve said before, he’s new to this. He can’t hear spirits, but he can see them. Well, he’s still learning how to control that ability and he can’t always see the spirit world, it’s just something that he doesn’t have control over,” explained Alec as patiently as he could and Marissa in the end only nodded, finally getting the whole picture.

As Alec was explaining things to Marissa, Magnus was trying to focus again and his eyes widened when he was able to make the spirit of the teenage girl appear in front of his eyes and he kept his eyes locked on that bench, pressing his lips together and was surprised when he was able to see the spirit for more than a mere second or two and he shook his head then, feeling a headache coming up and Alec gave him a little worried look when he noticed that Magnus was holding on his aching head.

“Everything okay?”

“Yep,” said Magnus and rubbed his forehead. “Apparently, if I focus enough, I can see spirits more than a second or two,” he said and looked to the bench, which looked empty at the moment, but Magnus made a short pause and took in a deep breath. “I love the top she’s wearing,” announced Magnus suddenly after he took a closer look at Marissa earlier and Alec gave him a surprised look. “Ask her where she got it,” he then said and Marissa let out a happy giggle.

“I like your boyfriend,” announced Marissa and reappeared closer to Magnus, taking a closer look at his clothes as well and came to conclusion that she liked what Magnus was wearing as well. “I like what he’s wearing as well. Detective, tell him that he has good fashion sense,” she then said and went back to the bench, Alec amused and a smile kept playing on his lips. He knew the two of them would be able to get along well. It was just a pity that Magnus couldn’t really hear her, but he didn’t mind being there to interpret what was going on.

“She likes you,” said Alec and Magnus looked at him, giving him a little smile. “Also, she likes your fashion sense as well,” he added and Magnus proudly smiled.

“Of course, what’s not to like?” asked Magnus and waggled his eyebrows. “It’s refreshing to meet someone who has a good fashion taste as well,” he then added and smiled to Marissa when he was able to see her again. “You know, I’m a fashion designer,” he then announced and was able to see the surprised expression on Marissa’s face, before she disappeared again.

“Can I see some of the things he designed?” asked Marissa and looked up at Alec. “Oh, he has to show me some of his designs. Please ask him if he can, huh?” she then asked and couldn’t really hold herself back. She was passionate about fashion world as well and she had never met someone who was a fashion designer before.

“She’s asking if you can show her some of your designs,” said Alec and then realised that he hadn’t seen them as well and he frowned, kind of wanting to see what kind of things Magnus was working on before the accident. “And I’d like to see them as well,” he quickly added, making Magnus chuckle and he shrugged.

“Actually,” said Magnus. “I have my sketch book up in my room, where I’ve sketched a few of my ideas for my newest collection,” said Magnus and Alec glanced at Marissa, whose eyes were literally glowing. She wanted to ask Alec if it was okay if they went to take a look at the sketch book, but then didn’t have to, Magnus seeing the wish clearly written all over the girl’s face when she suddenly appeared on the bench again. “We can go take a look at it, if you want, Marissa,” suggested Magnus, keeping his eyes focus on the spirit long enough so that he could see her smile and nod with such eagerness that it made his heart melt. She kind of reminded him of himself, when he was younger.

“You sure?” asked Alec and Magnus shrugged and nodded.

“Why not? I’d love to share my talent with other people,” he then said and waggled his eyebrows. “Well then, it’s settled,” he then said, rubbed his palms together and signed Alec that it was time to get going up to his room, which was where they were headed to next.

When they were up in Magnus’ room, Magnus and Marissa were going through his sketch book, while Alec was only there to keep their conversation going, but he had to admit it that he was having fun. Seeing Magnus’ designs was fun and he was able to get to know Magnus even better then, liking that side of him and he had to admit it that Magnus was very talented. As more time passed, Marissa decided that it was time to share some of her ideas as well and Alec tried his best to convey what she was saying to Magnus, who kept on writing her ideas down and ended up making a quick sketch of a dress that she described to him as well. As he was done, Marissa just kept staring at the dress, feeling choked up. Yes, it was definitely great to see her ideas on paper like that, but then the realisation hit her; she’d never be able to create something of her own.

Magnus’ heart squeezed, because he could feel her emotions, experiencing them much more intensely than Alec and in the end he promised to Marissa that his newest collection was going to be a tribute to her and she could have as many of her ideas included in it. While that didn’t change a lot of things, it made Marissa feel a bit better and she cheered up enough to not think about such dark things. The three of them continued talking long into the day and then came to the topic of boys which seemed to interest Magnus and Marissa much more than Alec, but he forced himself not to roll his eyes too much, smiling happily when he saw that Magnus was slowly starting to accept his new gift, no longer afraid of the spirits so much as he used to be.


	33. Chapter 33

Alec was sitting in his office and was trying to get the spirit of the blonde girl get to talk, but all of his efforts didn't seem to work and he was slowly starting to run out of patience. He was desperate to prove Camille guilty of a murder, but he needed some answers first. For starters, he wanted to know the girl's name and even though he could easily ask the spirit's former boyfriend, he wanted her to be able to remember on her own. Maybe then, she would be able to remember something more, but if she wasn't going to talk, then what was the point? The spirit was still just staring in front of herself and no matter what Alec did, she wouldn't look at him. She was too scared to keep eye contact with him and even though Alec knew he needed to be more patient, he didn't know what to do. He was trying to get her to talk for over a week now and it sucked that she wouldn't cooperate. While Marissa talked too much, this one was the complete opposite.

“Look,” said Alec and the spirit of the blonde woman flinched, the detective shaking his head and he took in a deep breath, his voice strained. “I’m trying to help you, but I need to you answer some things for me,” he then said and the spirit still wouldn’t look at him. “You don’t have to talk, just… nod and point to things as a reply, okay?” he asked and looked down at the file with pictures. In it, he had some random people as suspects, among them pictures of Camille and Chris as well, Alec rubbing his palms together, because he couldn’t wait for the moment the spirit was going to point at Camille when he’d ask her who was her killer.

Much to Alec’s luck, the blonde woman slowly nodded and Alec gave her a little smile when he slowly turned around and gave him a frightened look. “No need to look so afraid, I won’t hurt you. I promise,” said Alec, speaking much softer now and the spirit slowly nodded, appearing slightly closer to Alec, the detective feeling a lot more optimistic. “That’s it, you’re doing a great job,” he said and gave the spirit a little smile, but the woman didn’t smile. Instead, she just looked down and Alec cursed when he felt her emotions growing unsteady again, but he wasn’t going to give up so soon yet and he bit into his lower lip, before he started talking again.

“Can I ask you a few questions?” asked Alec and the spirit didn’t reply, the expression on her face troubled and Alec quickly spoke again. “It’s okay if you don’t remember everything I’m going to ask you. Or if you don’t want to reply, you don’t have to. If the questions get too intense, then just let me know and I’ll stop asking,” he then said and after some time, the spirit slowly looked up at him and gave him a little nod.

Good, thought Alec and quickly walked to the door to lock it, because he didn’t want anyone walking inside unannounced. Not now that he finally got the spirit to cooperate with the case. Jace was currently out, but Alec knew that the other was going to understand after he’d explain it to him. “Now then,” said Alec as he walked back to his desk and sat, the spirit watching him carefully and Alec puffed his cheeks. “Can you remember your name?” asked Alec and could almost smile when the other slowly nodded.

“Good, that’s awesome,” said Alec and even though he wanted to know the name right away, he knew that he wasn’t going to get it quite yet. “I’m trying to solve how you died, so I’ll need to ask you a few more… unpleasant questions. Is that okay?” asked Alec and the spirit shrugged, looking down and Alec chewed on his lower lip. “Remember that we can stop anytime, okay?” he tried to remain patient and when he received a little nod from the other, he decided that it was okay from him to continue.

“Can you remember how you died?” asked Alec and the spirit slowly nodded. “Was it a natural death or maybe an accident?” asked Alec and shivers ran up his spine when the spirit shook her head and a lump formed in Alec’s throat when he asked the next question. “Were you murdered?” he asked painfully slowly and noticed that the blonde’s eyes were wet with tears as she looked up and nodded, Alec making a short pause for the spirit to calm down a little bit. He needed to calm down a bit as well. It was true that he expected the spirit to be murdered, her murderer probably being Camille, but now that it was actually coming true, he was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

“I spoke to your former boyfriend last week,” said Alec and the spirit slowly nodded. “He, um, said that you found some things about his that time wife,” said Alec and watched how the spirit’s face darkened, her eyes now filled with anger and hatred, Alec sighing as the spirit nodded. “And short after that you went missing,” he added and flinched when the light bulb above him suddenly cracked.

The spirit’s sadness and pain was completely replaced by anger and if Alec wasn’t going to work fast, she would give into her emotions again and probably disappear. “Hey, I need you to calm down,” he said softly, the spirit looking at him and she shook her head. “I know Camille Belcourt, I know everything about her scams… how she tricked people into marriages and how she then took everything that they had,” said Alec quickly and that seemed to calm down the spirit. “I’m trying to get her behind bars,” he then said and clicked with his tongue. “And if it turns out that she killed you, then God help me, she’ll end up in prison for the rest of her life, it’s a promise.”

Alec sighed and then placed the file with pictures closer to the spirit, who gave Alec a confused look and Alec slowly opened up the file. “Can you identify your killer among these people?” asked Alec slowly and the young woman slowly looked down and started looking through the photos. When she saw the picture of Camille she visibly shuddered, but didn’t point at her and with horror in his eyes Alec watched how the spirit slowly lifted her hand and then pointed to the picture of Chris.

“He did it,” said the spirit, Alec’s eyes widening when he heard her voice. It sounded like she was… under water? That was the best way that Alec could describe it and it freaked him out, but when the realisation that she was pointing to Chris started sinking in, Alec’s stomach dropped and he tried to calm down his racing heart.

“W-what do you mean?” asked Alec. “Wasn’t it Camille who-” he started, but then his phone started ringing and just like that, the spirit of the blonde woman was gone, Alec cursing loudly. Alec grabbed his phone and cancelled the phone call even though it was Magnus calling him and he then nervously started pacing around the office.

Chris was many things, but he wasn’t a killer! Alec didn’t want to defend Chris, but he didn’t want to admit that he used to be with a murderer. It was such an irony, really. Even if Chris really killed the blonde woman, he knew that Camille had to be the one who ordered the murder. To her, Chris was just a pawn, nothing more, but it seemed to Alec that Chris had genuine feelings for her. Just like that day when Chris came over to his place unannounced with Camille’s plan to ‘seduce’ him. He was just doing whatever she said so it made Alec wonder… maybe the murder happened exact same way and he started coming up with a plan that would finally put an end to their little game. Together, Camille and Chris were pretty unstoppable, however, if one was to turn them against each other, then that would mean the end of their games for sure.

“Game over,” said Alec and smiled to himself.

* * *

It was slowly beginning to be the end of the day, most of the people at the station already went home, but Alec was still at the station, waiting for Magnus to come over since the two of them had agreed to meet up later that day. Catarina agreed to take her friend down to the station again and Magnus had planned to spend the night over at Alec’s, both of them beyond excited about the whole thing. Magnus was more than happy about it, a night outside of the hospital filled with the spirits, that he could see more clearly now, sounded more than perfect. Also, the time he was going to spend with Alec was going to be perfect!

That day, Magnus came without the wheel chair, trying to challenge himself a little bit, so he took his crutches instead, even though Catarina tried to explain it to him that he needed to be more careful, but Magnus was too stubborn. It wasn’t like he was going to walk a lot; he and Alec were going to go straight to his apartment and Alec had a car anyway, so he didn’t get why she worried so much. However, as Magnus was dragging himself over to Alec’s office, he came to the conclusion that maybe he should’ve taken the wheel chair after all. However, all of his doubts disappeared as soon as he knocked on the door and then opened it, stepping inside and a wide grin spread across his face when he saw Alec sitting on the chair. However, his smile disappeared when he saw that there was a spirit present in the room as well and shivers ran up his spine, colour draining from his face and he froze in place.

Alec was in the middle of asking the spirit of the blonde girl some question when the door opened and the girl disappeared quickly after that. Alec sighed a bit, but then at the same time, he was happy to see Magnus stepping inside of his office and he quickly stood, walked over to him and gave him a little kiss on top of his lips, frowning when the other didn’t respond and he gave him a questionable look. “Hey,” he said, trying to get Magnus’ attention again, the older one finally looking over at his direction and he shook his head.

“Oh, um, hey,” said Magnus, still too shaken up. Alec knew that Magnus must’ve seen the spirit, but it wasn’t anything new to him anymore, so he didn’t get why he was that shocked about it. Magnus, on the other hand, was shocked, because he knew who the spirit of the blonde girl was. He was kind of surprised that Alec didn’t seem to know who she was, because she was the daughter of one of the most famous people; the Branwell family and even though they were more influential in Los Angeles, it was still kind of surprising to see that Alec didn’t seem to know her, especially since Lightwoods and Branwells were supposed to be ‘friends’. Also, even if Alec didn’t seem to know her, Magnus sure did.

“You feeling okay?” asked Alec and allowed Magnus to walk inside of the office and sit down. He then closed the door and walked back to his desk, sitting on the opposite side of Magnus and placed his hands together on top of the desk. “I know that you’re still new to the whole spirit thing, but that doesn’t really explain why you-”

“Is the spirit that I’ve seen just now the one who Camille killed? I mean, the one you’re suspecting that Camille’s the killer?” asked Magnus and Alec nodded, but before he was able to tell Magnus that there was more to the story, the other one was quicker and he spoke first, before he could tell him that it was actually Chris who was the killer in that case. “I know who she is,” stammered Magnus and made a short pause.

“You do?” asked Alec, feeling his palms getting cold and he quickly straightened himself in his chair. “What’s her name?”

“Lydia Branwell,” stammered Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened.

“Branwell?” asked Alec carefully. “As in _The_ Branwells?”

“Yeah,” breathed out Magnus. “I’m kind of shocked that you don’t know her. Aren’t your family and the Branwell supposed to be so-called friends?” asked Magnus and Alec shrugged, because they were more rivals than friends, but made it appear for the media that they were close. Alec, personally, never liked phony relationships like that and he stayed far away from them.

“Not really,” said Alec and shook his head. “Well, it doesn’t really matter now, does it? More importantly, how do you know her?” he then asked and Magnus made a short pause and chewed on his lower lip.

“We’ve met around two or three years ago,” said Magnus. “I didn’t really know her that well, but you could say that we were friends,” he said. “I had a show for my new collection then in Los Angeles and she was one of my models. We got along pretty well,” said Magnus and made short pause, biting on his nails and Alec cocked his head to the side a little and waited for his boyfriend to continue. “I, um, I know that she was pronounced as a missing person more than a year ago, but I didn’t think much of it. As we were working together, she told me that she wanted to get away from her family, because it was beginning to be too much of a toxic environment for her. She planned to run away without telling anyone, so when I saw the news that she went missing, I thought she just, well, ran away,” stammered Magnus and placed a hand on top of his mouth. “B-but to think that she actually died,” he said and ran fingers through his hair, shocked. While it was true that he and Lydia weren’t really that close, it still hurt to know that one of the people he knew died.

“Oh,” whispered Alec, his heart heavy and he then placed a hand on top of Magnus’. “I’m so sorry, Magnus,” he then added. “I know it must be hard on you, because you knew her.” Alec then linked their fingers together for a minute or so, Magnus shrugging, because, yes, he was sad, but he still didn’t know Lydia _that_ well.

“It’s okay,” said Magnus with a sad smile, his sadness transforming into anger. “But if Camille did this to her, then so God help me that I’ll-”

“Camille might not be our killer,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a puzzled look. “I was lucky enough to finally have some breakthrough with her earlier today and when I asked her to point out if she knew who her killer was,” said Alec and opened up the file with pictures of random people, Camille and Chris among them as well. “She pointed to him,” said Alec and pointed to Chris, Magnus’ eyes growing as well.

“Your ex killed her?” stammered Magnus. “But why-”

“Camille asked him to do it if you ask me,” said Alec. “I think he’s there to do all of the dirty work for her,” went on by saying the detective and then shook his head. “But even with all of this, we don’t have enough evidence for… wait,” said Alec and looked up at Magnus. “You said she was pronounced as a missing person?” he asked and Magnus nodded. “In L.A?”

“Yeah,” stammered Magnus and sighed. “But like I said, they never found _anything,_ ” said the older one. “So I don’t get-”

“I’ll give them a call, I’m pretty sure her case is still open given to who she is,” said Alec and started looking up the number of Los Angeles Police Department.

“And tell them what, Alexander?” asked Magnus, because even he knew that they had too little evidence at that point.  

“I… don’t know,” said Alec and stopped searching for the number and bowed his head down. Magnus had a point, Alec knew all of that, but he just wanted to see those two behind bars as soon as possible. However, if he wanted that to happen, then he’d need to be more patient. If he did something stupid, then all of his hard work would go down the drain. Firstly, he’d need to get more information from Lydia’s spirit – for example, where her body was – and only then he could give LAPD a call. “I just… want this to be over as soon as possible.”

“I know, angel, me too,” said Magnus and sighed. “Did she say anything else? Where she was killed or how? Maybe where her body is at the moment?”

“No, not yet,” said Alec and chewed on his lower lip. “But when she spoke, it sounded like she was under water, so they probably disposed her body in a lake or a river,” said Alec and shook his head, knowing that finding Lydia was going to be like searching for needle in a haystack. “Great, just… fucking great,” said Alec and huffed under his breath.

“Worry not, we’ll get them,” said Magnus and held Alec’s hand again. “You said that Lydia seems frightened now, correct?” asked Magnus and Alec nodded. “Well, she knows me, so maybe if I try asking her a few questions, maybe she’d feel more comfortable,” said Magnus after a while and the younger agreed with his boyfriend. It was worth a try.

“Sounds like a good plan,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a little smile.

“Of course it is,” said Magnus and then chuckled. “Oh, this is so exciting. I’m a ghost whisperer as well,” joked the older one and Alec only rolled his eyes, but grinned when Magnus pulled him across the desk to give him a quick kiss on top of his lips.

* * *

“Oh, man, I haven’t been here in so long,” whispered Magnus when he stepped inside of Alec’s apartment, looking around it and he let out a happy sigh. Alec was more than happy to have Magnus over as well, because his apartment was starting to get pretty lonely and cold lately when he’d be home alone. Magnus grinned as Alec held the door open for him, walking slowly as he was holding tightly onto his crutches, feeling tired as hell, but also beyond happy. Alec noticed that Magnus looked tired, so he wasted no time and invited Magnus to sit down in the living room, the older one smiling widely as he stepped inside of the living room and sat down onto the couch, looking around the place happily.

Alec’s apartment changed a lot since he first saw it. The evening he followed Alec back home as a ghost, the apartment looked sad and almost naked, the walls were completely blank. But now, Alec brought more colour and warmth to his apartment. There were different kinds of pictures hanging on the walls, some of them chosen by Magnus himself. And when his eyes located fresh flowers on the coffee table, he chuckled and waggled his eyebrows when his boyfriend came closer.

“Fresh flowers, Alexander?” asked Magnus with a smile and Alec bit down onto his lower lip, red dusting over his cheeks. “For me?” asked the older one and Alec forced himself to slowly nod, because it was true. The first thing that he did the previous day was to go and buy some fresh flowers after he and Magnus made plans that the other was coming over.

“I bought them yesterday,” stammered the detective and smiled shyly. “I hope you like them,” he then added and Magnus nodded.

“Of course I do, they’re lovely,” said Magnus with a smug face and then scooted closer to his boyfriend as he sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around him, so that Magnus could come even closer and Alec relaxed when he felt Magnus’ body resting again his. _This_ was something that he wished for all those months ago when Magnus was still a ghost; being curled up in the couch together and doing absolutely nothing. Though, Alec had a few ideas of how the moment could be even more perfect, but then he shook his head and smiled when he saw Magnus looking at him.

“What?” asked Alec with a chuckle when he saw that Magnus was wearing a suspicious expression on his face.

“Nothing,” hummed Magnus and slowly straightened himself up. “I was just thinking that… we’re finally completely alone,” he then whispered and slowly climbed into Alec’s lap, his arms going around the older’s waist to hold him in place. “Well, it’s the first time that I’m able to touch you properly,” he then purred into Alec’s ear, sending shivers up his spine and Alec’s throat suddenly grew very dry. Magnus had a point; it was the first time that they were completely alone like that. In hospital, people could always come inside and- “So, I was thinking,” said Magnus against Alec’s lips.

“Oh you were, were you?” asked Alec with amusement in his voice. “About?”

“The things we could finally do,” said Magnus wearing a devious smirk on his lips and then leaned closer to Alec. Instead going for Alec’s lips, he went straight for the other’s weak spot; his neck and Alec couldn’t really help himself, taking in a deep breath and then let out a muffled moan when Magnus kissed his way up to his ear, biting into his earlobe gently and then pulled back a little, winking at the younger one underneath him.

“Magnus,” whispered Alec and ran his tongue over his lower lip.

“Yeah, dear?” purred Magnus against Alec’s lips, feeling his own body heating up with desire and his body shuddered when Alec pulled him closer to himself, closing his eyes as the other crushed their lips together, Magnus not having any shame as he moaned into Alec’s lips as they shared a few more chaste kisses.

“We should, um, stop… probably,” stammered Alec and Magnus grinned.

“Why?” asked Magnus and placed his hands on top of Alec’s chest, running them down and he stopped his fingers on top of Alec’s belt, hooking a finger under it and gave him a little wink. “I know you want it as much as me,” he then said and licked his lower lip, making Alec’s head spin as he watched that sinful tongue, wondering just how good it would feel if Magnus was currently down on his knees and-

“Your legs… you’re still recovering,” stammered Alec and pressed his lips together as Magnus rolled his hips, still sitting on top of him.

“Alexander, darling,” said the other and slowly got down onto the floor, Alec’s jaw dropping when he saw Magnus on his knees. “I don’t have to use my legs,” said Magnus with a chuckle and slowly parted Alec’s legs apart, running his fingers over Alec’s inner thighs, pressing his fingers into the sensitive skin and even though Alec was still wearing his jeans, his skin was literally on fire when Magnus touched him. “Besides, I still have to return the favour from the last time,” he said and Alec felt his throat squeezing.

“I, um-”

“Yeah?” purred Magnus with a grin. “What do you want, Alexander? My hands or… mouth, perhaps?”

“Oh God,” stammered Alec and gently cupped Magnus’ chin, lifting his head up. “Your mouth,” he whispered, wishing to see those lips being stretched around him so perfectly and then-

“Perfect choice, dear,” said Magnus and just as he started undoing Alec’s belt, Alec’s phone started ringing, the older one letting out a loud groan. With horror in his eyes, he watched Alec reaching for his phone and he shook his head. “No, leave it,” said Magnus.

“What if it’s something serious?” asked Alec when he saw Jace’s name written on the screen of his phone.

“Alexander, don’t-” tried Magnus again, but Alec had already picked up the phone call from Jace.

That better be something serious, thought Alec, because he was also pissed off that their moment got ruined. It was kind of out of Jace’s character to be calling him at such hour, so he picked up because of that. However, it turned out that it was nothing serious; Jace had gotten drunk and was prank calling people and after Alec spent five minutes listening to the blond’s drunken babbling and giggling, he ended the phone call, Magnus sitting back on top of the couch, arms folded on top of his chest and he was pissed as well.

“What did Captain America want?’’ asked Magnus, annoyed.

“Nothing,” replied Alec awkwardly. “It was a prank call,” he then said and rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he then said and Magnus only shook his head. The moment from before was ruined, but Magnus didn’t let that ruin their good mood.

“That’s okay,” said Magnus and shrugged, going back to Alec, curling up next to him and the younger one raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t we going to… continue?” asked Alec and Magnus shook his head.

“I’m not in the mood anymore,” replied Magnus, in a way punishing Alec for choosing to pick up that damned phone call and Alec only nodded, because in a way, he wasn’t in the mood anymore as well. As he and Magnus decided to watch a movie instead, Alec made a promise to himself that he was going to pay Jace back for ruining the moment between them and he already had a trick or two up his sleeve on how he was going go back to him and one of the plan may or may not have involved having Marissa chase Jace down the block with a bunch of rubber ducks.


	34. Chapter 34

''Come on, darling, say aah,'' said Magnus with a grin. It was the next morning and Magnus was trying to feed Alec some chocolate pudding for breakfast. Alec narrowed his eyes and stared down at the spoon, then back up at his boyfriend and sighed, opening his mouth as Magnus pressed the spoon against his lips and Magnus smiled brightly, a shy smile spreading across Alec’s face and he sighed happily.  They were in a rather awkward position, Alec sitting on the couch, Magnus straddling his hips, having the cup and spoon in his hands and looked a bit too eager about the whole thing. Also, in Alec’s opinion, it was still far too early into the day to be fooling around like that. “What’s with the sour expression, don’t you like the pudding?” asked Magnus and Alec quickly nodded.

“The pudding’s fine,” said Alec and took another spoonful into his mouth, his mood brightening a bit when the sweet taste filled his mouth, eyes widening when Magnus gently held his chin with his free hand and attacked his lips. Magnus’ innocent kiss soon transformed into a much deeper one, Alec parting his lips when the other licked his lower lip and gasped softly when he felt Magnus’ tongue tasting and exploring the warmth of his mouth, the detective feeling dizzy when he heard a small gasp escaping past Magnus’ lips.

Magnus smiled into their kiss and couldn’t really hold back from moaning, because Alec tasted so _sweet_ , licking his lower lip as he pulled back and chuckled when he saw how dazed Alec looked. “Want some more?” asked Magnus and Alec didn’t need to give him a verbal response as he grabbed the collar of his shirt and crushed their lips together. Yes, of course Alec wanted more of the kisses, Magnus laughing silently as he felt Alec slowly pushing him against the couch. “Alexander, watch out or you’ll make a mess!” said Magnus, barely holding the cup in his hands, but Alec didn’t really care about what the other was saying, too lost in their kiss. Magnus then broke their kiss and Alec gave him a puzzled expression. “The pudding,” gasped Magnus.

“Oh yeah,” whispered Alec quickly placed it onto the coffee table and went back to what he was doing before, Magnus, who was now laying against the couch, smiling widely. Alec bit into his lower lip as he looked underneath him; Magnus looked absolutely stunning. What made the whole situation even more special was the fact that the older one was wearing his clothes; his grey T-shirt and his sweatpants looked amazing on Magnus, in his humble opinion and he licked against his own lower lip, Magnus giving him a little wink and then signed him to come closer.

“Come here, my lips feel lonely,” whispered Magnus and Alec carefully laid on top of his boyfriend.

“Oh no,” said Alec in a overdramatic manner. “We can’t have that, can we?” As Magnus shook his head, Alec gave his forehead a quick kiss, before he kissed him softly on top of his lips, Magnus’ arms going around his neck, Alec’s hand gently cupping Magnus’ cheek, his thumb gently caressing it as they kissed each other again. Magnus’ hands slowly travelled down Alec’s back and then back up until the younger one broke their kiss, pressing his forehead against Magnus’.

“What time do you have to be at work today?” asked Magnus.

“By nine,” said Alec and looked over at the clock. Luckily, it was only seven, so that was good. “When does your therapy start?” he asked and Magnus thought about it for a while.

“Around ten,” he said and Alec gave him a little nod. “Maybe we could meet up later? You can come by the hospital, because Catarina’s working late today and won’t be able to drive me down to the station.”

“Of course, I’d love that,” said Alec and then made a short pause, meaning to ask Magnus something. His condition had gotten a lot better, but he was still technically living at the hospital and to Alec’s knowledge he could easily leave it and go home, going to the hospital only for the needed therapies. “Can I ask you something?” asked Alec and Magnus gave him a little nod, rising an eyebrow at the sudden question. “How come you still insist on living at the hospital? Don’t you have an apartment?”

“Ah,” said Magnus and looked down. “Not really, I was living with Camille before the accident,” said Magnus and then slowly looked up. “I sold my old apartment when we moved in together, so I don’t have anywhere else to go,” he then said and shrugged. While it sucked, he didn’t mind spending the time down at the hospital. However, lately, he was wishing that he could have a place where he could properly rest and have some much needed privacy.

“Oh, that sucks,” said Alec and slowly straightened himself up, thinking about it for a moment or so. Magnus could easily come live with him if it was up to Alec. At the end of the day, Magnus used to literally live with him as a ghost, so he didn’t see any problems with Magnus moving in. It was still pretty early into their relationship, but still, Alec would love to have Magnus around all the time. “Want to come live with me here?” blurted out Alec suddenly.

Magnus’ eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat at Alec’s sudden proposal and he sat up. “Seriously?” asked Magnus slowly, because he would love that. He missed being around Alec all the time and the weeks he spent at Alec’s apartment as a ghost were some of the happiest times in his life, to be honest. So, yes, he would love to come and live with Alexander. Being in the hospital all the time was slowly getting boring.

“Of course, why not?” asked Alec and went closer to him. “I kind of miss having you around,” he then said and leaned back against the couch. “Coming back to an empty apartment after a long day at work sucks, you know,” he then said and sighed. “So what do you say?”

“Yes!” exclaimed Magnus happily and Alec happily wrapped his arms around him, pulling into a tight, bear-like embrace, Magnus closing his eyes and he leaned against his boyfriend, looking up when he remembered about Chairman Meow still being at Ragnor’s. “Oh yeah,” said the older one suddenly. “But if I’ll be moving in here, I must warn you that I won’t be coming alone. Are pets allowed in his building?” asked Magnus carefully, not ready to move in without his cat. It was enough that he allowed Camille’s selfish side to tear them apart and he wasn’t going to do that mistake again.

“Of course they are, why wouldn’t they be?” asked Alec with a chuckle and then finally remembered that Magnus once mentioned having a cat. “Oh, you have a cat, right?” asked Alec and Magnus slowly nodded.

“Yeah, Chairman Meow,” said Magnus, reaching for his phone, which was resting on the coffee table, searching through his gallery, to show a picture of his precious kitten to Alec. A bright smile spread across Alec’s face when he saw the little one; Magnus’ cat was absolutely adorable, on the picture, he was peacefully sleeping in the corner of the room, the older one biting on his lower lip as he continued scrolling through the pictures. “God, I miss him,” whispered Magnus suddenly. “He’s currently with Ragnor, because Camille didn’t want to live with him, so I gave him to Ragnor,” he then said and pressed his lips together.

“Well, you’re in luck, I love cats,” said Alec and waggled his eyebrows. “So, I’d be more than happy to have him live here as well,” said the detective and Magnus smiled widely.

“You’re the best,” said Magnus and gave Alec a long smooch, the other laughing silently as they pulled apart.

“I know,” said Alec and Magnus grinned up at him.

“So, when do I get the key to your apartment?” asked Magnus.

“You mean to _our_ apartment?” asked Alec and smiled sheepishly. “Soon, very soon. Patience is a virtue, my dear,” said Alec and Magnus shook his head.

“Yeah, not mine,” said Magnus and started laughing.

They spent a few more moments cuddling next to each other on the couch, until it was finally the time for the two of them to get going. Alec drove Magnus down to the hospital, before he headed off to the station. Because Magnus told him that he was going to finish with his therapy around noon, when it was time for Alec’s lunch break, the detective agreed to pick up Magnus at the hospital and drive him down to the station, just in case that the spirit of Lydia Branwell was prepared to finally talk, hoping that things would be different now that Magnus was going to be with him.

* * *

Magnus was currently down at the station, sitting in Alec’s office and was looking around, just to see if the spirit of Lydia Branwell was there with them, but so far, she was nowhere to be seen. Alec sent Jace out, locked the door and both of them turned off their phones, Magnus giving Alec a nervous look, but he soon calmed down when Alec gave him a smile of encouragement. Magnus didn’t even know why he was getting nervous, probably because it was the first time he was helping Alec out with a case and he didn’t want to mess something up. Then again, he had nothing to mess up really, he was supposed to just sit there and make Lydia feel welcomed. They sat there in complete silence for a moment or two and then the spirit of Lydia finally appeared in the corner, the furthest away from them, Magnus taking in a deep breath when he saw and felt her emotions.

Magnus glanced over at Alec, who was now staring at the spirit as well and gave him a little nod, letting the older one know that it was okay for him to start speaking, make Lydia remember him in a case she forgot about him. “Hello there, Lydia,” said Magnus painfully slowly and her big blue eyes found Magnus’, before she disappeared from his sight, but he didn’t let the fact that he couldn’t see her at the time being distract him, staying focused on the reason why he was there. “I’m Magnus Bane. Do you know who am I? We’ve met before, can you remember?” he then asked and looked over at Alec, because he couldn’t see her, but could feel her confusion growing.

Alec watched in silence Lydia slowly coming closer to Magnus, staring face to face with him, just a few inches away from his face and Alec prayed to all of the gods that Magnus wasn’t going to freak out if she would show up in front of his eyes again. Luckily, Magnus couldn’t see her and he took in a deep breath. After what felt like hours, Lydia slowly nodded, a sad smile spreading across her face and she placed a hand over Magnus’, the older one flinching when suddenly something cold was touching him and he reminded himself that it was only Lydia.

“She remembers you,” whispered Alec and looked up at Lydia, who was now sitting in the chair next to Magnus, Alec chewing on his lower lip. Lydia looked a bit calmer then, her eyes focused on Magnus and that made Alec feel better. “That’s good,” said Alec and the spirit looked at him. “Magnus is here to help us out. Actually, both of us were unfortunate enough to meet Chris and Camille and we’re trying to get what’s coming to them. Your former boyfriend said that you had some dirt on Camille before you… well-”

“Yes,” said Lydia, her voice sending shivers down his spine and Alec tried to stay focused, but her voice sounded like gurgling and it was freaking him the hell out.

“And we promise that we won’t stop until we see them behind bars,” said Magnus, Lydia slowly turning to him and Magnus was able to take one quick glance at her, her blue eyes full with tears and she slowly nodded, giving both of them a grateful look, because she was more than happy that someone was finally there for her. And the fact that Magnus was there as well made Lydia feel a lot better, it felt good that someone she used to know when she was still among the living could see her now. “But you need to help us out at first as well,” said Magnus and Lydia gave Alec a puzzled look. How was she supposed to help?

“Technically, you’re still a missing person,” stammered Alec, Lydia slowly nodding. “The fact that you might have been murdered haven’t really came across. Magnus mentioned that you were trying to run away from your family, so your close friends just assumed that you ran away from home and that you’re hiding,” he said and Lydia froze in place, because that was true, her stomach dropping when he remembered her family. They weren’t bad people, no, she was just of constantly being under the spotlight. Alec could sense the feeling of regret and guilt coming up, Magnus feeling it as well and he struggled to even out his breathing, because he felt emotions much more than Alec.

“We need more information about what happened to you and where your body is lying,” said Alec then and made a short pause. “So if you remember anything, please you have to tell-”

“No!” screamed Lydia and Magnus literally jumped, because he could feel Lydia next to him getting angry. She didn’t want to talk about what happened to her that day. Sure, she remembered it, but she didn’t want to put that horrible act into words. All of the colour drained from Alec’s face when he saw that he was slowly losing Lydia and he sent a panicked look at Magnus.

“What if she shows you instead?” asked Magnus quickly and Lydia calmed down.

“How?” whispered Lydia and Alec’s eyes widened and he shook his head, not believing he didn’t thought about it himself. He was lucky that he had Magnus with him that day.

“Yes, a vision,” said Alec. “If you gave me a vision, then I’d be able to see what happened to you that day. It would be like I was looking through your eyes,” he said and Lydia slowly nodded, because she knew what a vision was. That seemed better than having to tell the other two what happened, putting that horrible act into words was far too difficult.

“Did she agree?” asked Magnus and Alec slowly nodded.

“Yeah,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a little nod back and sat there, waiting for Alec to continue. “Look,” said the detective, speaking to the spirit now. “All you have to do is to focus on that day, okay? Just try to remember into great details what happened to you and at some point, I’ll have to touch you,” he said, trying to let her know everything what was going to happen, because he didn’t want to startle Lydia. “That way I’ll be able to evoke the vision.”

Lydia slowly nodded and Magnus felt immediately sick down to his stomach, because she was trying her best to recall her memories and it didn’t take too long that she was out of it and was reliving some of her memories. Alec wasted no more time and quickly reached over to her, reaching for her hand, holding it up in air, above Lydia’s and then he closed his eyes, Magnus closely watching him as Alec was trying to see the vision. A few seconds later, Magnus’ eyes widened when he saw Alec’s eyes rolling to the back of his head and then the other just kept staring in front of himself, staring blankly at the door, which let Magnus know that Alec had to be experiencing the vision and he sat there in his chair as still as possible, nervously biting on his nails, chipping away the nail polish.

It took Alec only a few seconds that he evoked the vision and again, he had that feeling as if he was sucked into Lydia’s brain. Suddenly, Alec was looking through Lydia’s eyes and he was completely confused, because he had no idea where he was. However, it seemed that Lydia knew the place very well. Alec could tell that the place brought peace and happiness to Lydia, but not at the current moment, because she was running away from something. He didn’t know why, but he was terrified, heart beating fast against his ribcage and he had a feeling that he was going to be caught if he didn’t hide.

Alec could just helplessly follow how Lydia was running away from something, or someone. It was in the middle of the night and shivers ran up Alec’s spine when he saw Lydia running towards a lake. Because the grass was slippery, Lydia ended up tripping and as she was picking herself up from the ground, there was a big board, which said _Santa Fe Dam – launching facility, boats, food-_ and before Alec could read more, Lydia was already back on feet and was running again, but that was enough to let Alec know where Lydia was at the moment. Santa Fe Dam was a well-known recreation area, about half an hour away from Los Angeles, so it made sense, since Magnus told him that Lydia lived in Los Angeles.

Alec watched how Lydia hid behind some trees and placed a hand on top of her mouth, trying to be as quiet as possible. So this was why she refused to speak, she was hiding from someone; that’s why she was so terrified all of the time. Now, it all made sense. Lydia sat there for a few moments and after she was sure that she lost whoever was following her, she slowly went out, because she was sure the coast was clear, but Alec wanted to scream out, because that was far away from the truth and her stalker was hiding out in the dark as well, slowly coming behind her and before Lydia could say something, a hand was placed on top of her mouth and even though she tried to scream out for help and was kicking and struggling, the man was too strong and could easily out power her.

At first Alec couldn’t see the person’s face, but as he dragged Lydia out of her hiding spot, the moon illuminated his face and Lydia could see him; it was Chris. Alec watched how Lydia tried to get away and at some point, she managed to free herself. She grabbed the boat paddle, which was laying on the grass and tried her best to take a swing at Chris, but she wasn’t able to hit him right away, Alec feeling sick when he heard the man laughing and he wished he could be Lydia at the moment. He would take that paddle and-

Alec’s eyes widened when Lydia hit Chris with the paddle hard, a loud yelp of pain leaving his mouth. However, that pushed him over the edge and he pushed Lydia back, so hard that she stumbled back and ended up hitting her head against the rock and then darkness overcame Alec, panic setting in and he tried to move, but he couldn’t. He could hear voices around him, bits and pieces of conversation. He could recognise the voice; Chris was talking to someone on the phone and he sounded completely out of it, at some point almost yelling at the person who he was talking to.

“… she isn’t breathing, Camille,” heard Alec say and his body froze.

“… your fault…” was the next thing Lydia was able to hear.

“…shit, shit, shit…. What can I do?” asked Chris.

“…dispose her body? No!”

“There’s a lake…. A trash bag? Fill it with rocks?”

Alec’s eyes widened when he heard that and panic started setting in. Wait, if Lydia was able to hear all of that, then she wasn’t dead! But, then that meant… Oh, no! Alec struggled to move through Lydia, but she wouldn’t move and Alec just helplessly felt how Chris stuffed Lydia’s body into a trash bag, filled it with rocks, so that she wouldn’t come up to the surface of the lake.

Alec wanted the vision to end, because he knew how it was going to end. Chris dragged Lydia into the boat, then went to the middle of the lake and threw the trash bag into the water, Alec’s eyes widening in panic as water started filling in his lungs. He had gotten so much into the vision that he completely forgot that it was only a vision and that it wasn’t the reality. Hands went around his neck as he struggled to breathe and that was when he finally lost balance on his chair, falling onto the floor and thus ending the vision.

Alec, who was now sitting on the floor, was shaking, his entire body was shuddering and he couldn’t calm down. He looked over to the chair and wasn’t really surprised when Lydia wasn’t there anymore. Magnus, on the other hand, was now kneeling next to him, because the whole thing freaked him the hell out. It was terrifying having to watch Alec go through such an intense vision and when Alec started suddenly gasping for air, was when Magnus started to get really scared. Luckily, the vision ended soon after that and when Alec collapsed onto the floor, Magnus got there next to him as soon as possible, placing a hand on top of his shoulder, gently shaking him, hoping that that would bring Alec back to reality.

“Alexander, hey, I’m here,” whispered Magnus and Alec looked at him slowly, nodding and then looked down, his body still shivering and he felt sick, forcing himself not to throw up as he could still remember the feeling of the water filling his lungs and tears welled up in his eyes. “Angel, shh, calm down, it was just a vision,” tried Magnus again and Alec slowly nodded, but did nothing to stop the tears and shook his head.

“I-it’s true,” stammered Alec and swallowed back the sob. “Chris murdered her, Camille was on it as well,” he whispered and buried his face into Magnus’ shoulder as the other pulled him into a tight hug. “I-I know where she is, so now we can finally get them. I’ll call L.A.P.D and make sure they’ll rot in prison for the rest of their lives,” said Alec, speaking fast and Magnus gave him a little nod, because he was pissed off as well.

“Yes,” said Magnus and caressed Alec’s hair.

“I-I’ll call them right away,” said Alec and as he tried to get up, Magnus wouldn’t allow him to do so. “Magnus, I need to-”

“Not now, you’re a mess,” said Magnus softly, but then allowed Alec to stand up. The detective offered a hand to his boyfriend as well, who gladly took it and allowed himself to be pulled up onto his feet and he then quickly leaned against the desk, his crutches too far away from his to actually get them. “First you need to calm down,” he then said and gently cupped Alec’s face, who nuzzled into the touch and Alec gave him a little nod.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” said Alec and wiped his tears away.

When Alec calmed down, which was soon after that, he wasted no more time and called the Los Angeles Police Department, asking them about the case of the missing Lydia Branwell. After they told him that the case was still very much open, Alec decided to call it a bluff and said that he had an eye witness, which would like to stay anonymous, but had some information about the case. After that, he told the woman on the other side of the phone call everything that he knew into great details and the officer that was talking to him promised him they would go to the recreation resort and search through the mentioned lake. Alec thanked them and asked them to keep updated, happy that the case of Camille and Chris was slowly coming to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank all of you for all of the support, it means the world to me ! ^^  
> Hopefully you liked this chapter as well.
> 
> (Also, how excited are you to see the Malec training scene in season 3?! That video left me deceased yesterday, haha!)


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a bit longer to update this, because I ran out of ideas for a bit, but now I'm back! :D   
> The fanfic is slowly coming to an end (I have planned around 6 more chapters) and I just wanna thank everyone for supporting me and giving me ideas ! :) I appreciate everyone of you so much ;)  
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well ^^

It was a few days later, morning, Magnus first one awake that day and he glanced over to his right, where Alec was still soundly asleep and a little smile crept upon his face. Mission moving in with Alec was still a work in progress, but slowly Magnus had been transferring his things over to Alec’s apartment. Just a day before, he sneaked inside of his and Camille’s apartment, since he still had the key, and with the help of Alec managed to get most of his things out of there, leaving some of the most useless things at Camille’s apartment since he wasn’t going to need them anyway. He also transferred all of his things from the hospital over to Alec’s apartment and now the only one who still needed to move in with the two of them, which would mark the move in a complete success, was Chairman Meow, who was still at Ragnor’s place while Magnus was trying to make sure he had everything prepared for his beloved kitten.

Magnus chuckled when Alec started softly snoring and he pulled the bed covers up to his chin and slowly moved closer to his boyfriend, letting out a happy sigh. A few months ago, he was just like that lying next to Alec, but things were much different now and if one was to tell him a few months ago that he would be able to feel this happy again, he would tell them that they were crazy. The older one bit into his lower lip and moved up, supporting his body on his elbow and grinned when he could have a better look at Alec’s sleeping face, which was precious. He leaned a bit closer to the other, removing some of the hair that was falling over Alec’s eyes and then laughed silently as Alec raised his eyebrows and muttered something in his sleep, which Magnus couldn’t really make out what it was.

Magnus spent a few moments like that next to Alec, thinking about the whole situation that was going on with Chris and Camille. Alec still hadn’t gotten any updates from the L.A.P.D, but he had finished interviewing the other two of Camille’s ex partners and luckily, the other two hadn’t had any ghosts attached to them. Alec had appealed for the trail at the court and currently, he was waiting for the exact date of the trail. Currently, he only had forgery of the IDs, fraud and emotional distress of the people they had hurt with their fake marriages that Alec was working with, but was working hard to prove that the two of them were guilty of a murder as well, Magnus on the edge as well, because he wanted the justice to be served.

Alec’s loud snore was enough to wake Magnus up from his day dreaming and when he glanced over to the clock, he saw that it was slowly going to be the time for Alec to get up and Magnus knew just a way to wake him up. He leaned over to him and gently blew into his face, a frown forming in between Alec’s eyebrows and Magnus started laughing, because he could tell that Alec was annoyed. He wasn’t a morning person at all. “Alexander, it’s time to wake up,” said Magnus and gently shook the younger one, who only shook his head.

“Five more minutes,” whined Alec and slowly turned away from Magnus, laying on his back now and Magnus only shook his head and then an idea popped into his mind. He slowly lifted up the bedcovers and climbed on top of the sleeping one, who let out a moan of discomfort when there was a weight suddenly pressing down onto his body, but since with the weight came a lovely and comfortable warmth, he wasn’t going to complain, so he just turned his head to the other side and started snoring loudly again.

Magnus clicked with his tongue and then leaned closer to Alec, placing a kiss on top of his lips, his own lips travelling to the side of Alec’s neck and he licked a wet trail of kisses down to his collar bone, letting out quiet moans of delight on purpose and finally Alec woke up. “Magnus,” said Alec, letting out a hitched breath and slowly opened his eyes. “Stop,” he then whined, biting into his lower lip and Magnus sucked onto the exposed flesh of his neck roughly enough to leave a mark there and then waggled his eyebrows as he watched the side of Alec’s neck bruise.

“Good morning, angel,” purred Magnus against Alec’s lips and kissed his hungrily, before his lips went back to Alec’s neck and the detective couldn’t really complain as the neck was his weak spot, his fingers tangling into Magnus’ hair as the other kept on kissing and licking his neck, his fingers slowly slipping underneath Alec’s shirt and he laughed breathlessly right above Alec’s ear, causing the younger one to let out a muffled moan and he then looked down, Magnus’ sparkly eyes staring back at him and he shook his head.

“It’s too early for this, Magnus… stop it,” tried Alec again, but Magnus wasn’t backing down, because he knew that Alec didn’t really want him to stop. So instead of stopping, he lifted off the bedcovers and slowly dipped underneath them, lifting Alec’s shirt and he placed a few kisses all over his boyfriend’s chest, slowly kissing his way to his navel, only to kiss his way back up to his chest and he grinned into Alec’s skin, because he could feel the other’s laboured breathing. Alec licked his lower lip, which was dry and he then closed his eyes, allowing himself to enjoy it. It’s been so, so long. “Oh god,” stammered Alec and Magnus slowly lifted himself up. “Magnus…”

“Hmm?” asked Magnus with a grin. “Should I stop?”

“Fuck no… don’t you dare to stop now,” said Alec breathlessly and a victorious smile spread across Magnus’ face. Magnus then slid the bedcovers off of them and brought his face close to Alec’s, who wasted no time to grab him by the back of his neck and pulled him down, crushing their lips together in a hungry kiss. Magnus slowly parted a little bit, gently sucking onto Alec’s lower lip and he then claimed his lips once again, deepening it by gently leaning his head to the right and slipping his tongue back into the warmth of Alec’s hot mouth, the younger one letting out a muffled moan, his head spinning when he felt Magnus placing his hands underneath his shirt, his fingers gently grazing his chest and his stomach, admiring his perfect, toned body and Alec needed to remind himself how to breathe when Magnus pulled back for the second time, waggling his eyebrows.

“Take off your shirt,” purred Magnus against Alec’s lips and the detective didn’t need to be told twice, quickly tearing his own shirt off, making Magnus laugh when he saw how eager his boyfriend was. “Eager, are we?” whispered Magnus and Alec could only nod, throwing his face into the pillow when he felt Magnus’ soft lips on top of his chest, travelling down, lower and lower. Alec fisted the bedsheets as Magnus darted out his tongue, arching his back, cheeks heating up when he slowly felt himself growing hard against his boxers, toes curling each time the head of his cock grazed against the underwear, biting down onto his lower lip and he buried his fingers into Magnus’ hair, making the other look up.

“Please,” pleaded Alec, no longer being able to restrain himself. It’s been too long since he’d last been intimate with someone else. “I can’t wait anymore,” he then stammered and Magnus came back up, placing a kiss on top of his nose.

“What do you want, angel?” crooned Magnus against his lips, making Alec’s body shudder, his throat going dry. “All you have to do is tell me and I’ll give it to you,” said Magnus playfully, enjoying himself to the fullest when he saw that he had Alec completely under control, Alec huffing under his breath and felt his cheeks reddening.

“Blow me,” blurted Alec out, surprising himself by how up front he was what he wanted and Magnus chuckled, happy to see Alec being so honest about it. Magnus then moved himself lower again and placed his hands on Alec’s thighs, gently pressing his fingertips into the sensitive flesh, teasing him, making his arousal skyrocket through his body. He parted Alec’s legs and felt his own cock hardening inside of his boxers as he saw the subtle outline of Alec’s erection inside of his pants. Alec felt how a new wave of arousal shot through his body when he felt how Magnus’ fingers moved to his inner-thighs and he licked his lower lip. He appreciated that Magnus was taking his time in making him feel good, but at that moment all that he wished was that Magnus would move faster, because his body was begging for release.

“Magnus, hurry up,” whispered Alec, his voice strained and Magnus smiled, but didn’t listen to his request quite yet. While he slid his sweatpants down, he left Alec’s boxers on and licked his lower lip, mouthing Alec’s cock through his boxers, making the other one groan. “Please,” tried Alec again and it was then that Magnus finally decided to have some mercy on him. Magnus quickly slid Alec’s boxers down his legs, the younger one sighing when his cock was finally freed from constrictions of his clothes and he almost smiled when Magnus touched him again.

Magnus’ fingers went around Alec’s erect member, stroking it a few times before taking some of it into his mouth. Alec’s body shuddered when he was taken inside of Magnus’ hot mouth and he was sure that he was going to melt when the other one started slowly bobbing his head up and down. Alec grabbed some of Magnus’ hair and impatiently rocked his hips, pushing himself further into Magnus’ mouth.

Magnus looked up and let out a small hum when his hair was being tugged on, sending pleasurable vibrations down Alec’s cock. He sucked onto Alec’s cock harder, gagging when he felt it hit the back of his throat. “S-slow down, Magnus,” said Alec and chuckled when his boyfriend looked up at him, making the younger one even more aroused and he could come just by watching the latter’s face. Magnus’ face was flushed, his mouth wide open, some of the drool dripping from the corners of his lips. “Feels so good,” he then added and earned a moan from Magnus.

Magnus couldn’t hold it anymore; he needed to touch himself as well. As he still had Alec in his mouth, he quickly pulled down his pants and underwear, sliding them down his legs and then wrapped the fingers of his free hand around his own cock, stroking himself in sharp and fast motions. Alec grit his teeth when he saw Magnus pleasuring himself as well and he then swallowed thickly, feeling himself growing even harder inside of his boyfriend’s hot mouth.

“I’m not gonna last much longer,” panted Alec, feeling dizzy when he felt Magnus tightening his throat around him and he let out a small chuckle, placing his fingers under Magnus’ chin, the other frowning when Alec pulled his face up, taking Alec out of his mouth.

“What’s wrong, Alexander?” asked Magnus and bit into his lower lip. “Doesn’t it feel good?” asked Magnus and pouted, because up until then, he had never had any complaints in that department of sex.

“Oh, it felt amazing,” said Alec and made a short pause. “I just… wanted to try out something else,” he then said and earned a sly smile from his boyfriend.

“Oh? You’re full of surprises, my Alexander,” said Magnus. “What did you have in mind?”

Instead of replying, Alec wrapped his arms around Magnus and flipped them over, so that it was Alec now how was laying on top of Magnus, carefully parting Magnus’ legs, just in case not to hurt him and a devious smirk spread across Magnus’ face as Alec’s rolled his hips, making their erections brush together, creating a pleasant friction in between them, Magnus letting out a muffled moan when Alec attacked his neck with his lips, gently biting into the sensitive spot, leaving a mark there as well. He then reached down with his hand, wrapping fingers around both of their members, tightening his fist enough to leave Magnus seeing stars.

“Alexander,” gasped Magnus, his arms going around Alec’s neck and he pushed him closer, moving his own hips out of frustration. Alec grinned when he could feel Magnus’ cock twitching in his hand and he knew that the other one was close. Heck, he was close as well and he kissed Magnus softly, grinning when he pulled back a bit and saw pure bliss and pleasure written all over Magnus’ face. God, he was beautiful like that. “Darling, you’re not playing fair,” said Magnus and laughed breathlessly. “This was supposed to be my turn to-”

“Oh forget about that and enjoy yourself,” whispered Alec into his ear, Magnus still holding onto him for his dear life and he bit into his lower lip. “Are you close?” he then asked and Magnus gave him a little nod, letting out a moan of disappointment when Alec pulled back a little. Magnus wanted to feel Alec’s body against own, but Alec wanted to see Magnus come.

“Alexa-” moaned Magnus, fisting the bedsheets, eyes widening when he looked above him. Alec, who was now on his knees, still rolling his hips, was stunning. His body was wet with sweat and the way he was sensually moving his hips drove Magnus insane. “I’m gonna come,” warned him Magnus and Alec gave him a little smirk.

“Come then for me,” said Alec, feeling his own body trembling and when he tightened his fist a bit more was when it became all too much for Magnus, coming hard with a loud moan of his boyfriend’s name. Soon after that, Alec was pushed over the edge himself, riding out his orgasm, leaning his head back, biting onto his lower lip, a smile spreading across his face as he was coming down from the heights of his orgasm, feeling his cheeks heating up when he looked down and saw that Magnus was observing him.

“You were stunning, angel,” said Magnus, unable to tear his eyes away from his boyfriend and Alec blushed up to his ears. He then leaned over to the nightstand and quickly wiped them clean, Magnus chuckling, because it was more than obvious that Alexander was embarrassed. “I was right about you, you know. You are adorable,” said the older one and Alec huffed under his breath and slowly climbed off of Magnus, who wasted no time to climb back into Alec’s lap.

“What?” asked Alec, his fingers losing themselves inside of Magnus’ messy hair.

“Next time,” whispered Magnus against Alec’s lips. “We’re going all the way,” he then said with a wink and Alec couldn’t really say no to that.

* * *

It was later that day and Alec was chilling in his office, a huge smile on his face present throughout the entire day as his mind was still with events from that morning. Jace sent him a weird look when he noticed the creepy grin on Alec’s face again, but said nothing, because he knew that Alec had to be thinking about Magnus. He knew about the other one moving in with his partner, so he came to the conclusion that was why Alec was such a giggling and smiling mess that day and to be honest, it was kind of adorable to see his partner like that. It’s been a while since he had last seen Alec so happy and a smile spread across Jace’s face when he continued to observe the older one, Alec quickly straightening in his chair when he saw that Jace was looking at him and he cleared his throat, shook his head and gave him a puzzled look.

“Why are you staring at me, Jace?” asked Alec with a small voice and narrowed his eyes, because he didn’t like the way Jace’s smirk had only widened at that and he then just rolled his eyes and groaned, because he thought that Jace was just messing around with him again.

“Oh, nothing,” said Jace and chuckled. “I take that things are going great with Magnus?” he then asked and started laughing out loud when he saw how Alec blushed up to his ears. The older detective was completely dumbfounded; was it really that obvious that he was thinking about Magnus? Damn it, people always read him way too easily.

“Um, yeah,” stammered Alec and didn’t deny another smile coming upon his face. “His moving in is still work in progress, but the only thing missing now is his cat and then he’ll be moved in for good,” said Alec happily and Jace gave him a warm smile, because he was beyond happy for him.

“That’s great,” said Jace and made a short pause. “I’m happy to hear that things are going well between the two of you,” said the blond one and Alec smiled back as a reply and nodded. Even though Alec loved to tease Jace around and make fun of him, he was happy to have the other one as a best friend. He was always there when he needed support, so he was happy that he could share such great news with him first.

After that, the two of them started working on a few reports, Marissa casually coming in for a few visits, Alec grinning when she would mess around with Jace. Even though Jace and Alec were able to solve her case, she still hung around and wasn’t able to see the light. So, that meant that she still had some unfinished business here on Earth, whatever that meant. That was when Simon came into the whole picture, because he was the one who helped the spirits find eternal peace and just the day before, he visited the girl’s family, seeing if she had some unfinished business with them, but so far, he found nothing that would actually help. But, Alec didn’t mind Marissa around too much, he had gotten used to her and he was going to miss her once she’d be gone.

Just as Alec opened a new file and was about to start writing a report, there was a phone call. It was Jace who picked it up, but quickly gave it to Alec, saying that the call was from them; apparently someone from Los Angeles Police Department wished to speak with him and Alec was literally catapulted onto his legs and he quickly took the phone into his hand and cleared his throat, feeling his heart fasten. Finally they called back! That meant that they finally found something!

“Hello, this is Detective Alec Lightwood speaking,” said Alec in his formal voice, Jace giving him an odd look, but then stopped when he remembered that Alec was working on a case of his own and quickly excused himself out of the office, so that Alec could have his peace and talk with the L.A.P.D.

“Oh, yes, Detective Lightwood,” said the woman on the other side of the phone call, Alec recognising her voice immediately. It was the same woman that picked up his call last time he called in to tell them about where the body of missing Lydia Branwell was laying. “I’m calling you because of the case of missing Lydia Branwell. We have more information now.”

“Oh, um, yes,” said Alec and quickly took out a piece of paper and a pen, just in case he’d have to write something down. “Were you able to find anything at the location my eye witness gave to me?” asked Alec carefully and after some moments of silence, the woman on the other side of the phone call finally decided to speak again.

“We sent a search party down to Irwindale, to the Santa Fe Dam recreation area and searched the whole area,” started off the woman, Alec hold around the phone tightening and he took in a deep breath, nodding to himself. “And, yes, our team searched through the lake as well,” she then said, Alec chewing on his lower lip and he was praying to God that they found something. If he thought about it twice, Chris – or Camille – could have easily move Lydia’s body since it’s been more than a year that the poor woman was murdered. “At the exact location that you gave to us, detective, we were able to find a body of a Caucasian woman in her early twenties,” she added and Alec felt weight lifting off of his chest.

“I see,” said Alec painfully slowly and then licked his lower lip. “Did the identity of the found body match Lydia Branwell?”

“Yes,” said the woman and made a short pause. “It took us a while to identify the found body, because the water damaged the body. Also, she has been in that lake for more than a year, so,” she said. “But with dental records we were able to match her identity to Lydia Branwell, yes,” she then said and sighed, Alec looking down and then back up, feeling a knot forming in his stomach when he saw the spirit of Lydia Branwell standing there in the office with him.

“I’m so sorry,” mouthed Alec to her, the spirit looking down and Alec took in a deep breath. “Thank you so much for your hard work,” said Alec then and took in a deep breath.

“No, thank you for helping us out,” said the woman and clicked with her tongue. “Though it’s gonna be very tough proving who the murderer is in this case,” she said. “We were able to get a few CCTV records from the night of the murder, but we can’t really make out a lot from the recordings. It’s clear that someone was chasing the victim around, but the recordings aren’t very clear, so it won’t be easy identifying the person,” she said. “Wait, you said you have an eye-witness, so-”

“No, um, they weren’t able to see who did it either, they watched everything happen from afar,” said Alec quickly, because he didn’t want to get too involved with the whole thing since his eye witness didn’t really exist. However, it was good to know that there were some CCTV recordings from that night, so maybe if he would take a look at them, he’d be able to identify Chris! “However,” said Alec. “I’d like to take a look at those recordings. Could you send them to me?” asked Alec.

“Yes, of course,” said the woman. “Also, if the eyewitness happens to remember anything else, don’t hesitate to give us another call, okay?” asked the woman.

“It’s a deal,” said Alec and after that, the two of them continued talking for a few more minutes about more details about the murder, the woman telling him that Lydia suffered some trauma to the head, but that she didn’t die because of that, but that she drowned. That weren’t really news for Alec, but he listened to everything that she had to say and after a while, the phone call ended and Alec went back to work.

“Now then,” he said to himself. Somehow, he had to prove that Chris was at that recreation area on the night of the murder and Alec had a few ways how he’d be able to prove that. Go back in time and track Chris’ call history and from which location the calls were made. Also, Chris probably used his credit card, so tracking that back was bound to prove something. Alec’s lips curled up and formed a little smirk, because he knew that he was close. He looked over to Lydia, who was now staring at the computer screen and he gave her a little nod. “Worry not, I’m gonna arrest the bastard,” said Alec and Lydia looked over at him.

“Thank you,” she whispered, tears present in her eyes. “For everything.”

“No need to mention it,” said Alec and took in a deep breath. “In the meantime,” he then said. “As we’re waiting for more evidence to come out… why don’t you go pay Chris and Camille a little visit and give them a little scare?” suggested Alec and gave Lydia a little wink, whose mood immediately changed and with a little nod quickly disappeared, Alec’s laughter filling the office. He wasn’t the one who supported spirits scaring the living, but in this case, it was completely justified.


	36. Chapter 36

Alec was in a bad mood, in a very bad mood. He was in his office and was thinking about everything. The time to discuss Chris' and Camille's at the court had come, but it didn't go as Alec wanted it to go. Yes, the two of them were found guilty of possession of fake identity documentations, but the only penalty the two of them received was money fine, which the two of them were able to afford; it wasn't even that much of money and Alec was pissed. He, Magnus and the other victims prosecuted against them, but it was like the judge didn't care about the fake marriages and the emotional distress the two of them brought to the people. Alec was pissed off; no, he was furious and the only way that he was able to bring justice was to somehow prove that Chris and Camille killed Lydia.

The detective didn’t get what he had done wrong; all of his hard work went straight down the drain. In any other case, the judge would rule the marriages as fake and even though if they wouldn’t get time in prison for owning fake IDs, then at least they would have to return back the money to the victims that they received as divorce alimony. Alec knew that that had to be Camille’s doing; she had connections everywhere and it made Alec pissed off, because even the judge seemed to be corrupted. She probably paid him enough money or convinced him some other kind of way so that the case worked out the best way possible for her and Chris.

Alec chewed on his lower lip and shook his head. Currently, he was watching the recordings of the CCTV he received from that recreation area, where Lydia’s body was found at and was trying his hardest to prove that the man chasing Lydia around was in fact Chris. Much to his luck, he was able to prove from his bank transactions and from his phone records prove that he was in that area at the time of the murder, but that still wasn’t enough; he still needed more proof to actually bring Chris and Camille down. He was also able to locate that Camille was in Los Angeles at the time, but at the end of the day, she lived there at the time being, so that meant nothing. However, just like the woman from Los Angeles Police Department told him, it was unable to identify the man who was chasing Lydia around; the recordings were too bad, plus, it was night time when the murder happened. Alec tried everything; zooming in the picture, trying his best to sharpen the picture, but nothing helped and he was completely lost. Alec knew that it was Chris; the person who was running around after Lydia looked just like him, but good luck to him proving that to the judge, who was clearly on Camille’s and Chris’ side. Great, just fucking great.

The only thing that made him kind of happy was to see Chris and Camille completely terrified at the court the other day. The two of them were paranoid and were looking around all the time, Alec grinning, because he knew that that was Lydia’s doing. She was there all the time, with the two of them, and was haunting both of them, just like Alec told her to do. He knew that it was wrong, but at least, Lydia was able to get back at them in some kind of a way. It was so satisfying to see Camille and Chris scared for their lives as they walked out of the court room and seeing all of the papers falling out of their hands, scattering all around the room. That was Lydia’s doing; out of rage when she heard the verdict and she couldn’t hold back anymore. If Alec was in her shoes, he’d do the same.

The news that Lydia Branwell was found dead spread out a lot, since she was from a famous family and Alec could tell that that was bothering Chris as well. At the hearing at the court, he was anxious that the judge would ask about her as well, but much to his luck, none of that happened. Yet. Alec was looking forward to the day he would be able to arrest Chris, but for now, it didn’t look like that day was going to happen soon and that was driving the detective insane.

“Shit,” said Alec and looked down, Jace looking into his direction and he let out a small sigh when he saw that his partner was struggling with something. He knew all about how his case against Chris and Camille was going and he felt for the other one; he wanted to see those two in prison just as much as Alec did and was trying his best to help his partner out. “Jace, come here,” he then said.

Jace dropped what he was doing and went closer to Alec with his chair and gave him a puzzled look when he saw Alec trying to see something on recordings of a CCTV. “What are you looking at, Alec?” asked Jace and the older one scratched behind his head.

“This are the recordings of the night that Lydia was murdered,” said Alec and turned the screen of his computer to Jace’s direction, so that he would be able to take a better look at it. “Look here closer,” he then instructed him and Jace focused on the video as Alec pressed the play button. Jace could make out a blonde girl running away from a shadowy figure and he narrowed his eyes, because he knew who the other person was supposed to be; Alec told him all about Chris taking Lydia’s life. The two of them disappeared behind a corner and then recording of another camera appeared, this time recording Lydia and Chris right into the face. While Jace could make out Lydia’s face fairly clearly, he couldn’t make out who the other person, chasing her, was. However, he knew Chris well enough and his posture to know that it was him. Alec stopped the recording on the frame where Chris was the closest to the came and pointed to the screen. “This is Chris, I know it. There’s no other way around it,” said Alec and rubbed his palms together. “Right?” he asked and looked to Jace, who gave him a little nod.

“It’s pretty obvious that it’s him,” said Jace and then shook his head. “I mean, I know him well enough to know how he acts, walks and runs, but this wouldn’t prove anything at the court,” said Jace and Alec felt his stomach dropping, but at the same time, he was well aware of that. “Have you tried zooming in?” he asked and Alec rolled his eyes, but nodded and tried again to make the picture of the recording as clear as possible and Jace cursed, because it was still pretty impossible to make out the face of the person. “This still isn’t good enough,” said Jace and Alec groaned.

“I know,” said Alec and buried his face into his palms. “But what else am I supposed to do?” he then asked and looked to Jace for help, but went quiet for a few moments and then finally an idea popped into his mind.

“Well, you questioned the former partner of Lydia for your case against Camille and Chris, right?” asked Jace and Alec gave him a little nod. “Didn’t you say that the man said that Lydia was snooping around Camille before she went missing? I mean, think about it, that’s the only lead you’ve got, but it’s enough of a reason to bring Camille in as a suspect,” said the blond later on and Alec’s eyes widened, because he had completely forgotten about that and he gave Jace a thankful look.

“That would work, yes,” said Alec and a grin was back on his face. “I could call Camille and Chris in, both of them at the same time and bluff about some things a little bit,” said Alec and Jace gave him a little nod. “Maybe try to turn them against each other, a bit of lying isn’t going to hurt anyone,” he then added and rubbed him palms together, because he felt good. He was back at track and it felt good knowing what his next move was going to be.

* * *

Magnus was home, at Alec’s apartment and was happily humming a song to himself as he was petting Chairman Meow. His beloved kitten was laying in his lap and was silently purring as Magnus was gently petting his head, a happy smile on his face as he looked around the apartment. It wasn’t Alec’s apartment anymore, he reminded himself. Now, it was _their_ apartment, Magnus’ smile growing as he looked down at the cat, who gave him a puzzled look when his hand stopped caressing his head and Magnus chuckled, shaking his head, but placed his hand back on top of Chairman’s head and scratched the back of his ear, making his kitten purr louder and Magnus chuckled as the cat extended out his front paws, flexing his claws in and out, making letting out a small moan of discomfort when he felt Chairman Meow’s claws going through his jeans and he slowly lifted the animal and placed him on top of the couch, giving him a look of disapproval. When he was placed on top of the couch, Chairman let out an annoyed meow and then hopped onto the floor, going to his bed, which was in the corner of the living room and Magnus grinned.

Chairman Meow was such a spoiled cat and Magnus was happy when he saw that Alec was going to spoil him as much as him – if not even more. The kitten was living with them for about a week now and Alec loved him, playing constantly with him and from what Magnus could tell, Chairman liked Alec as well. Then again, what was there not to like? Alexander was charming, an amazing person and was good with animals. He was perfect in every aspect. As Magnus found himself daydreaming about Alec, he let out a happy sigh and leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes, enjoying peace and quiet. That day he was completely free, he didn’t have a therapy, so he was free to do whatever he wanted and he already knew of a way to spend the afternoon. He took his sketch book, which was laying on the coffee table and a pencil and got to work. He was currently working on a new collection, one that he was going to tribute to Marissa and he wanted it to look perfect. He had already sketched quite a lot of clothes, but he was still missing something. A beautiful long dress with lots of glitter and sparkles.

As Magnus was happily sketching the mentioned dress, quite happy with what he had so far, Chairman Meow suddenly let out a loud meow and then he hissed. That caught Magnus off guard and he looked towards his cat, who was staring at the door and Magnus’ eyes widened when he saw that Chairman was hissing at something that was to his eyes invisible. The cat’s back was slouched, his ears dropped down and was looking ready to attack whatever was scaring him. Magnus dropped his pencil when he remembered Alec telling him that animals were very sensitive to the spirits and he swallowed thickly, because that had to be it. There had to be a spirit present in the room and Magnus just couldn’t see them currently. He knew what he had to do, so he narrowed his eyes and focused on the direction that Chairman Meow was looking and hissing at. Slowly, a faint figure appeared and Magnus’ eyes widened when the figure started to become clearer and clearer and quite soon he could see the spirit properly. It was his mother.

Magnus felt shivers going up his spine and for the next few moments, he just sat there and listened to Chairman, who was still trying to let him know about the spirit in the room. At first, the spirit of Anita was staring right past him, but then her eyes found Magnus’ and he flinched, because he didn’t know what to do with himself. Usually, he was with Alec when spirits were present and without him around, he was completely lost. Not only that, but that was his mother he was talking about, so the whole thing was that worse. So, the last time, he really saw her and when that realisation started sinking in, he had to look down, eyes burning with tears and he cleared his throat, tears wetting his face as he blinked and he forced himself to look back up, surprised to see that the spirit of his mom was still there.

So, she really did die all of those years ago. Magnus always felt that she was dead, given all of the evidence, especially when Marten talked about her in past tense. His stomach made a flip and he placed a hand on top of his mouth, feeling sick down to his stomach as the spirit came closer to him, Magnus quickly grabbing his crutches, in attempt to get away, because he was terrified. Even though it was his mother, he was scared, taking in a deep breath as he grabbed his crutches and tried to get away. However, he didn’t get far, because Anita appeared on the other side of the room, making Magnus lose his balance and he landed on the floor, his crutches falling on the floor next to him and he cursed loudly, because he didn’t know what to do. He wanted to call Alexander, but he knew that the other was busy with work, so in the end, he just sat there and hoped for the best.

It was then that Anita finally understood Magnus was still afraid of her, so she decided to keep her distance and Magnus let out a hitched breath when he suddenly felt a deep sadness setting in within him and his eyes found his mother’s, who was now looking down, her hands placed together in front of her and when she looked back up, Magnus could see tears rolling down her face. Even though he couldn’t hear her, he could still feel what she was feeling and he sniffled when he saw that Anita was trying to come closer, but was forcing herself to stay away. Magnus knew that she didn’t mean to frighten him before and he felt horrible for reacting the way that he did, feeling guilt creeping into his heart. She meant no harm, Magnus knew all of that. Because of that, he slowly went back to the couch and signed her to come closer, his heart falling to the pit of her stomach when she disappeared from his sight and he cursed, because he wanted to have a better control of his gift. He forced himself to focus and almost smiled when he was able to see her again, this time standing closer to him, wearing a sad smile on her face.

Anita looked still so young, so Marten really must’ve murdered her on that night. She was wearing the same clothes she was before he went to school that morning, on that horrible, terrible day. It was the same day that he ran away from home as well. All those years, he was dreaming of how he’d get to see his mother again and now his wish came true, in a way. He just wished that she wasn’t dead; he wanted to live a long a careless life with her now that his step father was out of the picture. However, he managed to take away that from him as well and Magnus gritted his teeth, anger filling his heart now and he cursed loudly. Magnus’ facial expression softened up when Anita came a bit closer to him and he could feel a splitting headache coming up. It was because he was forcing himself to stare at the spirit for so long, but he didn’t care anymore. He just wanted his mother to hold him and when she reached out with her hand, he completely broke down, feeling too choked up, his heart beating fast at his throat.

“Mama,” sobbed Magnus, feeling like a child again and that sent new tears rolling down his mother’s face, and she slowly placed a hand on top of Magnus’ cheek. The man remembered how hugging worked with spirits, so he quickly closed his eyes and let out a hitched breath when he could feel his mother’s palm resting on his cheek and he gently nuzzled into the touch. However, as he did that, the feeling of the palm disappeared and he let out a disappointed sigh and opened his eyes again, cursing when he couldn’t see his mother again. He narrowed his eyes and bit into his lower lip when she reappeared again right in front of him. “I missed you so much,” he then stammered and could feel her sadness deepening.

“Me too,” she said and even though Magnus couldn’t hear her, he could read her lips what she said to him. His mother’s hand was still resting on top of his cheek and Magnus placed a hand over her own. The place where his mother’s hand was resting felt cold and slimy to the touch, but he didn’t mind it. “I’ve been searching for you for all these years,” she then whispered and Magnus cocked his head to the side and let out a frustrated sob.

“I can’t hear you,” stammered Magnus angrily and bowed his head down in disappointment. “I’m so sorry, I-”

Anita slowly lifted Magnus’ head and shook her head. “It’s okay,” could Magnus see her mouthing and he slowly nodded. She didn’t care if he couldn’t hear her, she was just happy that she was able to find him. “My boy,” she then said, keeping her sentences short, so that Magnus could make out what she was saying. Magnus’ eyes welled up again, because that was how she used to call him when he was still just a boy and he chewed on his lower lip when the woman hugged his face with both of her hands and Magnus closed his eyes, feeling his mother pressing a kiss on top of his forehead. “You’ve grown up into such a handsome man,” she said, Magnus this time not seeing that as he kept his eyes closed.

As Magnus opened his eyes, he could see his mother smiling through her tears and quickly started wiping his tears away, puffing his cheeks and he then bit into his lower lip. “Did Marten do this to you?” asked Magnus with a small voice and could feel his mother’s anger deepening and she slowly nodded. “Worry not, he was put in prison, where he died,” stammered Magnus and sniffled, clearing his throat. “And I promise that I’ll help you with… finding peace,” said Magnus and made a short pause. “You’re supposed to _cross over_ , whatever that means,” he said and shrugged. “Alexander… my boyfriend,” he said and felt his cheeks heating up. “Knows more about this ghost stuff and he’ll be able to help you out more. He also sees the spirit world,” he then added and Anita had a little smile on her face when she saw Magnus talking about Alec.

“Okay,” she mouthed and Magnus smiled sheepishly.

The next thing that caught Anita’s attention was Magnus’ sketch book, so she went closer to it and started turning pages, Magnus going closer to it as well. He took it into his hands and felt his heart beating faster. “I sketched those,” said Magnus slowly and Anita gave him a surprised look. “I’m, um, a fashion designer,” stammered Magnus and chewed on his lower lip, looking to his mom, who was staring at the dress he was working on earlier. “What do you think? Is it any good?” he then asked and Anita slowly nodded, her eyes wet again.

“Beautiful,” she said and Magnus smiled, nodding, because the dress he was working on really was beautiful. Anita scanned through the sketch book a few times and couldn’t stop smiling when she heard that Magnus was now a fashion designer. He always had a dream to become one, so she was more than happy that he followed his dream. “I’m so proud,” she then said, hoping that Magnus was able to read from her lips what she said and the expression on his face told her that he knew what she said.

Magnus dropped his sketch book when his mother said that she was proud of him and he looked down, hair falling over his face, but by the way his shoulders were trembling, Anita was able to tell that Magnus was crying again. Magnus couldn’t really help himself; he received many compliments for his designs, but nothing could compare to his mother saying that his sketches were beautiful and her telling him that she was proud of him. “You don’t know how much this means to me,” managed to say Magnus in between his sobs, which only got louder as the spirit wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. “Mama,” stammered Magnus and Anita felt her heart breaking.

“I’m here, mama’s here,” she said and hugged her son tighter. “I love you,” she whispered against Magnus’ ear, whose eyes widened when he heard a little whisper. It was barely audible, but he could make out what it was and he sobbed again when he was able to hear his mother’s voice.

“I love you too,” sniffled Magnus and closed his eyes again.

As Magnus and his mother were in the middle of an intimate moment, the door of the apartment opened, Alec stepping inside. He finished earlier that day and hurried back home, because he knew that Magnus was there waiting for him all alone and he didn’t want him to be alone for too long. However, nothing could prepare him for what he saw when he stepped inside. The first thing that he heard was Magnus’ soft sniffles, followed by sobs of another person and his eyes widened when he stepped into the living room and saw Magnus and a spirit. It wasn’t really a secret who the spirit was; it was Magnus’ mother, Alec remembered how she looked like. He didn’t want to disturb their moment, but as he tried to get into the kitchen, the two of them were able to hear him and in the next moment, Anita was gone.

“Shit,” cursed Alec and chewed on his lower lip. “Miss Kikkert, you don’t need to leave, I was just-” quickly said the detective, but realised that it was already too late and he pressed his lips together, going into the living room after all and his heart broke when he found Magnus. His perfect eyeliner was all smudged out, traces of tears still present on his face and he huffed. “Magnus, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“That’s okay, Alexander,” stammered Magnus and started wiping his tears, sniffling softly and he chewed on his lower lip when his boyfriend sat down next to him.

“Are you okay?” whispered Alec softly and Magnus nodded.

“Yes, yes I am,” whispered the older one as he was still wiping away the tears. “I’m just a bit… emotional, that’s all,” he then said and a sad smile spread across his face. “I can’t believe that it was really her. I mean, she’s really dead… and even though I had a feeling all these years, it’s still-”

“I’m so sorry, Magnus,” whispered Alec with a small voice and wrapped an arm around him.

“It’s okay,” said Magnus and shrugged. “Like I said, I had a feeling,” he added and made a short pause. “It seems like she still has some unfinished business and I promised we’ll help her out. You don’t mind it, do you?”

“Of course not,” said Alec and shook his head. “I’ll help as much as I can,” he then promised and Magnus slowly leaned again him.

“Thank you,” stammered Magnus and took in a deep breath. For the next few moments, the two of them sat there in a complete silence, until Magnus broke it by speaking again. “She saw the sketches I’m currently working on,” said Magnus and Alec looked to his left, slowly nodding. “When I told her that I was a fashion designer, she said that she was proud of me,” he then added and Alec pressed his lips together when he saw new tears welling up in Magnus’ eyes.

“Of course she’s proud of you,” said Alec and planted a kiss on top of Magnus’ head, who let out a small chuckle and sighed.

“You know, I thought about this gift as a curse, but,” said Magnus. “Then again, if I wouldn’t have it, I wouldn’t be able to see my mom again,” he said and chewed on his lower lip. “So, maybe I gained it for a reason, so that I’m able to say goodbye to my mom properly this time,” commented Magnus and Alec slowly nodded.

“Maybe. All happens for a reason,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a little smile.

As they continued sitting in the living room, Chairman Meow slowly stepped inside of the room again. Before, as Magnus was having a moment with his mom, the cat ran away and hid under the bed. However, now that he was sure that the coast was clear, he slowly returned, but was still looking around the room in suspicious manner, meowing softly when he saw that Alec was back home.

“Oh, there you are,” said Alec and chuckled when Chairman hopped into his lap and Magnus grinned.

“He’s such a scaredy-cat,” said Magnus and shook his head. “He ran away for his dear life before,” said Magnus and laughed quietly, making Chairman Meow letting out an annoyed meow.

“Oh, shush, Magnus, don’t laugh at him,” said Alec and scooped Chairman into his hands. “It isn’t a laughing matter, is it? It was a scary ghost, wasn’t it?” asked Alec the cat, holding him right up to his face and he wrinkled his nose when Chairman licked the tip of his nose. “Ew,” said Alec and handed Chairman to Magnus.

“Don’t be mean to my baby,” said Magnus and turned Chairman onto his back and started petting his tummy, the cat letting out a happy purr and Alec grinned. As Magnus continued petting his cat, Alec placed a hand on top of his back and Magnus looked at him. “What?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes,” said Magnus and nodded. “I just need time to… process everything. But I’ll be okay,” he then said and Alec gave him a little nod, wrapped his arm back around his shoulder and pulled him closer to himself.


	37. Chapter 37

Alec was currently sitting in the interrogation room with Camille and her lawyer, trying to ask her about the missing case of Lydia Branwell. He thought he had enough evidence to ask her a few questions and what was even more amazing was the fact that Chris came with Camille down to the station that day and Alec hoped that maybe he would have a chance to speak with Chris. He had evidence that Chris was in Los Angeles area at the time of the murder, so given that Chris and Camille were con artists that worked together, in his opinion that was more than a good reason to talk with Chris. However, he would have to deal with Camille first and Alec pressed his lips together as he looked across the table, over to the woman, who looked picture-perfect like always and Alec cursed, because he wanted to see that cold mask of hers crumble apart. He wanted to get to her, to push the right buttons.

Alec took in a deep breath and rubbed his palms together, looking over at the woman’s lawyer, who was wearing that usual snobby expression on his face and Alec only rolled his eyes, opened the file of Lydia Branwell’s murder and looked over to Camille, who looked completely cold and calm, making Alec’s anger worsen. As he glanced to the corner of the room, he saw the spirit of Lydia there, watching them and a little smirk spread across his face, because she let him know about her little scares the past few days and he couldn’t contain himself really. While she didn’t really get to Camille, Chris was freaked out and convinced that he was losing his mind, which made Alec the happiest person on the planet currently.

“Can I ask you why I had to come down to the station?” asked Camille and looked around the room, wearing a disgusted expression on her face and she wrinkled her nose, because the police station was beneath her. She didn’t want anyone seeing her there. “If any of my friends see me in a place like this, I’ll never live this down. The humiliation,” she spat and shuddered, Alec giving her unamused look and he reminded himself to stay calm. She would get what was coming to her soon enough.

“I have a few questions to ask you about this woman,” said Alec, took the picture of Lydia Branwell out of the file and passed it across the desk and handed it to Camille’s lawyer, who handed the picture to Camille. Alec narrowed his eyes, hoping that she would show any kind of reaction, but she remained as cold and calm as before and that made Alec angry. “Do you know the person on the picture?” asked Alec and folded his arms on top of his chest.

“Of course I do, it’s Lydia Branwell. How could I not know her, she is the daughter of one of the most influential families in America,” said Camille, speaking in her most bored tone of voice and that drove Alec even angrier, because she knew that she was doing that on purpose. “Is that why you called me? To ask me if I know this woman?” she asked and scoffed. “I can’t believe it, you detectives are getting more and more useless these days,” she said and Alec ran fingers through his hair, looking to the corner of the room, where Lydia was still listening to everything and he shook his head.

“Not quite, Miss Belcourt,” said Alec with the sweetest tone of voice he could muster and he sickened to himself. “I have a few more questions connected to Lydia Branwell that have to do with you,” he said and narrowed his eyes when he noticed that Camille flinched just a little bit and that was enough for Alec to continue. “Did you know her personally?”

“Not really,” said Camille and shrugged. “I knew her family, but no, I didn’t know her personally.”

“Really? That’s interesting,” said Alec and clicked with his tongue, his smirk growing, because he knew that he caught Camille in a lie. “Well, I had a talk with your ex-husband, the former partner of Lydia Branwell,” said Alec and grinned when he saw Camille’s expression darkening. “And he told me that you two knew each other pretty well,” he said and pressed his lips together. “Well, that was until you two had that big fight that he mentioned and then it was the end of your friendship,” said Alec and a victorious smile spread across his face when he saw that his information caught off guard Camille’s lawyer as well. In the next moment, he was whispering something into Camille’s ear and Camille was trying her best not to lose her tempter right there in front of Alec and Lydia, who was now standing much closer to them and was looking quite pleased as well.

“Yes, I had a brief friendship with Lydia, but we had a falling out soon after that and-”

“That happened when Lydia’s former partner decided to leave her for you, is that it?” asked Alec, pushing the things further and Camille’s lawyer was looking more and more done with the whole thing. Alec couldn’t really blame him; with a client like Camille, he would lose his mind as well. Alec leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, staring at Camille, who was trying her best to come up with another lie.

“Well, we couldn’t really help ourselves, the heart wants what it wants. We fell in love,” said Camille and Alec arched an eyebrow. Oh yes, Camille fell in love with something alright, but it wasn’t the man; it was his money. “We didn’t mean to hurt poor Lydia in the process. But life isn’t fair and it was what it was. While it is true that I lost a friend, I also couldn’t help myself,” she said, trying to sound sincere and Alec almost laughed, because the whole situation was getting ridiculous.

“Oh, please, we all know that it was his bank account you fell in love with,” said Alec and rolled his eyes, but then reminded himself to stay professional. “Well, your ex-husband mentioned Lydia getting a bit too close to you one day and apparently, she had some dirt on you that she wanted to tell to her former partner. I imagine that it was all about your scams with marriages,” said Alec and narrowed his eyes, because he knew that he got Camille where he wanted to. “And short after that, just as she wanted to let him know that she knew some things about you, she went missing,” said Alec.

“I-imagine that,” said Camille and Alec grinned.

“Hmm,” hummed Alec and looked over to the lawyer, who was trying his best to keep up with what was going on. “You wouldn’t have to do anything with her disappearance? You know that she was found dead just the other week, right?” asked Alec and all of the colour drained from Camille’s face.

“Yes, I’ve heard the news. It’s such a tragic thing that happened, really,” said Camille, acting as if the news were terrible on her and Alec almost rolled his eyes right there in front of the other two. “But no, I don’t have anything to do with that. Do you really think that I’d do something like that? Look, even if we didn’t get along later on, she was still my friend and some point and I’d never-”

“Oh, really?” asked Alec and narrowed his eyes. “Well, then I hope that you don’t mind me asking you a few more questions. I did a bit of a search through your phone record history and I found a funny thing, really,” said Alec and grinned, because he could tell that Camille didn’t know what to expect and for the first time, he saw genuine fear on her face. “On the night of Lydia Branwell’s murder,” started Alec. “You were in the Los Angeles area, right?”

“Well, yeah, that was where I lived at the moment and-”

“Okay, thought so,” said Alec and just as Camille thought that that was it, Alec spoke again. “However,” he said. “On the night Lydia was murdered, you received quite a lot of phone calls from the same number,” said Alec and narrowed his eyes. “What’s even more interesting that all of the calls came from Irwindale area,” he said and Camille gave him a confused look.

“So?”

“So, Miss Belcourt,” said Alec and leaned back in his chair. “That’s the spot that Lydia was found murdered in,” said Alec and with that hit the nail on the head, because Camille looked lost and with panic in her eyes, she looked over at her lawyer and then started whispering something into his ear again, the man whispering something back, but Alec could tell that the other was on the verge with his nerves as well. “Also,” said Alec and handed Camille a piece of paper. “Do you recognise this number? It’s the one who had called you that many times on the night of the murder.”

Camille looked down onto the paper and swallowed thickly. Of course she recognised the number, it was Chris’. Alec recognised it was well, but he wanted to see Camille’s reaction and it didn’t disappoint at all. “I-I don’t know this number,” whispered Camille and Alec arched an eyebrow.

“Really?” asked Alec and shook his head. “But I could swear that it belongs to the man that is waiting for you in the waiting area,” said Alec and Camille swallowed thickly and she just looked down, her lawyer looking at the number and Alec could almost laugh. As he glanced over to Lydia, he gave her a little nod and she sent him a smile across the room, because she was thankful to him and she knew that it wouldn’t take too long before they would catch the two of them and arrest them.

“I,” stammered Camille and was looking around the room, needing to get out. In the end, she decided to fake feeling ill, because that was the only way out for her at the moment and she knew that. She needed to talk to Chris in private, just in Alec would want to talk to him as well. She needed to tell him what to say. So, because of this, she placed a hand in front of her lips and looked down. “I feel sick,” stammered Camille and looked over to her lawyer. “I need to get out,” she then whispered and the man nodded, getting onto his legs and Alec rolled his eyes.

“We’re in the middle of interrogation, she can’t just-”

“My client isn’t feeling well,” said the man and Alec rolled his eyes again. “In this condition she can’t continue. Now, stop being such an ass and allow us to get some air,” he said and helped Camille onto her legs, even though it was more than obvious that she was faking it.

“Fine,” said Alec and reluctantly walked over to the door, unlocked it and held it open, because he knew that he didn’t have a say in this. However, that gave him an idea. “In the meantime, I’d like to talk with Chris and then after you feel better, I’d like to continue our little talk,” said Alec and smiled when he saw that Camille started panicking again.

“You can’t do that,” snapped Camille and glared at Alec. “Chris is my emotional support and I need to talk with him, because-”

“Of course I can do that, watch me,” said Alec and narrowed his eyes. “Since you two are the main suspects in the murder of Lydia Branwell, I can do whatever I want,” said the detective and as he said that Camille had a feeling that she’d faint for real. “Now, Mister Lawyer, take Miss Belcourt out, so that she can get some fresh air. Something tells me that she is going to be enjoying her last days out in the freedom and fresh air,” he said and sent the woman a little wink, before her lawyer dragged her out of the room. Alec rubbed his palms together and went to Chris, looking forward to the talk he was about to have with him.

* * *

In about 30 minutes, Alec was sitting in the interrogation room with Chris, who was confident enough to speak with him without his lawyer and even though Alec tried to make sure he was okay with that, he didn’t budge. As Camille was walking away, Alec could tell that she was trying to tell him not to say anything without a lawyer present, but as stubborn as Chris was, he thought that he got _this_. Whatever Alec was going to throw into his way, he was sure that he could dodge it. After all, Alec was just one lousy detective, what could he do?! Alec, who was sitting on the opposite side of Chris pressed his lips together and a frown formed in between his eyebrows, because he wanted to wipe that cocky smile away from Chris’ face. Then again, he knew that he wouldn’t be smiling for much longer.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about, babe?” asked Chris and leaned forward to Alec, who quickly leaned back in his chair and sent the other a nasty look, then rolled his eyes and huffed under his breath. “What’s with the sour expression? Come on, you have to admit it, you’re happy to see me, aren’t you?” tried Chris again and Alec forced on a little smile.

“In a way, I couldn’t be happier about you being here. I’ve got you where I want to,” said Alec and his reply seemed to confuse Chris, but he didn’t let that show on his face and he just sent him a little wink, went made Alec visibly shudder. “Now then, let’s get straight to the point,” said Alec and looked over the room and narrowed his eyes, Lydia no longer present there, but Alec didn’t let that bother him too much. “I take it that you’ve heard what had happened to Lydia Branwell?” asked Alec and Chris gave him a confused look.

“Who?” asked Chris, wearing that dumb look on his face and that told Alec that the other was just pretending to be stupid; he knew Chris enough. After all, he had almost married him and even though the other was playing him all along, Alec was still able to get to know the other well enough to know when he was just bluffing.

“Playing dumb with me won’t bring you anywhere, Chris,” said Alec and folded his arms on top of his chest and narrowed his eyes. “She used to be a friend of Camille’s and given your two’s past, you were bound to meet her sometime,” said Alec and Chris only shook his head.

“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” said Chris and Alec felt annoyance kicking in.

“Maybe this’ll juggle his memory a little bit,” suddenly said a voice behind Alec and he tried not to jump when Lydia suddenly reappeared in the room. Even though he was used to her speaking, her gurgling voice still gave him the creeps and he waited for a little bit for Lydia to continue, just to see what she had in mind. A little smirk spread across Alec’s face when she went some papers flying through the room and Chris’ eyes grew huge when suddenly the picture of Lydia lifted from the case file and started going to him, the other quickly backing away. “Remember me now?” snapped Lydia and threw the picture to Chris, who let out a loud yelp and released the photo, because he was convinced that it was possessed by the devil himself.

“Alec, what the hell was that?!” snapped Chris as he was still looking around the room, the lights flickering above him and his eyes filled with horror when he felt someone touching his shoulder, then the hand going down and it stopped on the chair. Alec just smiled when Lydia made Chris fall onto the floor as she started shaking the chair and Chris nearly had an accident in his pants right there in front of Alec. “Stop this, it’s not funny anymore! What the hell is happening to me?! The past last week, shit like this keeps happening to me and I can’t deal with it anymore,” whined Chris and went under the desk, but didn’t spend a lot of time there as Lydia grabbed him by his leg and started dragging him from there, Alec laughing quietly when he saw the scene unfolding in front of his eyes. “Alec, make this stop!”

“That’s all on you,” said Alec and shrugged. “I’ll ask you again, do you know this woman?” asked Alec and pointed to the photo of Lydia, Chris quickly nodding.

“Yes, I know Lydia Branwell,” said Chris quickly and sat back on top of the chair and started looking around the room, scanning it, but it scared him since he couldn’t see anything. Alec, on the other hand, who was able to see Lydia smirking in the corner of the room, smiled himself as well and gave her a little nod, because he needed that little push from Chris to start get him talking.

“Why did you lie about it then?” asked Alec and narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t know,” stammered Chris and shrugged. “I never met her personally, so I just figured-”

“Never met her personally? Now, that’s not really true, is it?” asked Alec and watched colour draining from Chris’ face, who just stayed quiet since he didn’t know where Alec was going with that. “Can you tell me who this man on this picture is?” he then asked and pulled out a few screenshots that he had printed from the CCTV recordings that the Los Angeles Police Department sent to him and arched an eyebrow when he handed it to Chris, who froze in his place and almost fainted when he recognised himself on those pictures.

“I-I-”

“That’s you, isn’t it?” asked Alec painfully slowly.

“You can’t prove that,” whispered Chris and continued looking at the photos, his eyes filling with horror when he saw a picture of frightened Lydia running away from him and he pressed his lips together, biting into his lower lip so hard that he broke the skin and made himself bleed. “The quality of the photos are bad, so there’s no way to tell that it’s me,” he said and Alec nodded, because he knew that it was true.

“Well, yes, that’s true,” said Alec and took in a deep breath. “However, these pictures were taken at the Santa Fe Dam recreation area, where Lydia was found dead and I have something else to tell you. Well, ask you that is,” said Alec. “I searched through your phone history records and I was able to track down the calls you made on the night of Lydia’s murder; all of them were made to Camille’s number. And can I tell you something even more interesting? All of your calls came from Los Angeles area,” he said and Chris looked down.

“That doesn’t prove anything,” said Chris. “At the time I was living in L.A. and I was just calling Camille, because-”

“That’s another lie, you weren’t living in Los Angeles,” said Alec and grinned. “You were living right here, in New York,” he said and clicked with his tongue. “Well, the calls that you made on that night came from Irwindale to be exact, you know… where Lydia was found murdered at,” continued Alec and the corners of Chris’ mouth dangerously twitched.

“That doesn’t prove anything. I was on vacation there,” said Chris and Alec shook his head.

“Can I tell you my guess what happened?” asked Alec and continued even though Chris didn’t respond. “Camille tracked down where Lydia was going to be that night and sent you to do the dirty business for her. I mean, she started snooping around her and I can only imagine what she found out. And when she was about to tell that to Camille’s husband at the time, well, your precious girlfriend needed to make her disappear. And because she isn’t the person who likes to get her hands dirty, that was when you came into the whole picture,” said Alec and looked at Chris, who had his head bowed down. “Am I correct or not?”

“I didn’t mean to…” started Chris and gritted his teeth. “I’m innocent, I did nothing. You know me, Alec, I’d never hurt anyone and-”

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” said Alec carelessly. “Besides, Camille already confessed,” said Alec, who was now just bluffing, but he needed to turn the two of them against each other. If he would do that then the two of them were over. Game over and a win for him.

As Alec said that, Chris completely changed and all that Alec needed to do was to push things a bit further and he knew that Chris would break down completely, crumble apart. Deadly silence fell in between them and Chris buried his face into his palms and Alec almost felt sorry for him when his shoulders started shaking. Alec looked away and took in a deep breath. It was just like he thought; Camille didn’t think of Chris anything more than a personal pawn. But, he had some genuine feelings for her that ran so deep that he was even prepared to kill for her. Pathetic.

“Confessed to what?” asked Chris painfully slowly and slowly looked up, Alec pressing his lips together and took in a deep breath.

“She said that you murdered Lydia,” lied Alec and that was when Chris lost it.

“That bitch,” snapped Chris and formed fists with his hands and banged them hard against the desk a few times, Alec just sitting there in complete silence and allowed Chris to collect himself. “And after all that I’ve done for her, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut!” yelled out Chris and started laughing. It was a sarcastic, ironic laughter. “I can’t believe that I’ve fallen for her lies as well. How could I be so stupid? Sure, I was good when I needed to take care of Lydia, but as soon as she needs to look after her own ass, then she forgets about all other people. Even _me_ ,” said Chris and quickly placed a hand on top of his mouth when he realised what he said.

Alec’s eyes widened when he heard that Chris practically confessed to the murder of Lydia. “Chris, I-”

“I didn’t mean to hurt Lydia,” said Chris, who was done with keeping his mouth shut. If Camille sold him out, then he was doing the same to her! “I was just supposed to scare her a little bit, but then there was an accident. She hit her head and then she wasn’t breathing and I panicked. I didn’t know what to do, so I called Camille… she told me to get rid of her body. Shit, shit, shit… I didn’t mean to… I’m so sorry. I-”

“You should’ve called an ambulance instead of Camille, because Lydia didn’t die because of trauma to her head,” said Alec and looked up at Chris, who now wore a pained expression on her face. “Los Angeles Police Department did an autopsy and… she died because she drowned.”

“What?” asked Chris and felt sick down to his stomach. “Oh my God…”

“Yeah,” whispered Alec and shook his head. “Jesus, Chris… I knew you were many things, but a murderer…”

“I did it for _her_ ,” snapped Chris and ran fingers through his messy hair, pulling hard onto it out of frustration. “But it was never enough. She always wanted more,” said Chris, speaking through his teeth. “No matter what I did, she was never happy with me. I was never good enough for her!”

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” asked Alec with a small voice and Chris looked up at him.

“What?”

“Nothing,” replied Alec and got onto his legs and left the room for the time being, so that he could instruct some of the officers to go get Chris. By the time he came back, the interrogation room was in a complete mess, Chris pressed against the wall in fear and Alec let out a sad sigh, because he knew that Lydia was behind that. Soon, two officers came after Alec and he signed them to go over to Chris.

“You’re arrested for the murder of Lydia Branwell,” said Alec quietly and watched the two officers handcuffing Chris. Even though they would have to take this case to the court and prove that Chris was guilty in front of the judge, Alec knew that it was over. Chris and Camille were done for and he bowed his head down. He thought that seeing Chris behind bars was going to bring him some justice and happiness, but all that he felt inside were sadness and emptiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Game over, Camille and Chris.


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some domestic moments :)  
> And Magnus is back in the game with designing things ;)

It was a long day for Alec that day when he finally went back home and all that he wanted was to curl up on the couch and do completely nothing. He had just spent another day questioning Camille and Chris, Jace helping him this time, but he still felt like crap. He didn't care much about Camille when he was questioning her, but it was a bit more difficult when he was dealing with Chris. At the end of the day, they still had a past together and Alec couldn't believe the things Camille made him do. It turned out that he really was just a pawn to her and even her feelings for him were fake, which left the man devastated. Because of this Chris decided to finally start talking since he had nothing to lose. He would end up in jail one way or the other and he determined that he wasn't going to go alone, wanting to return Camille the favour and drag her down with him. Before he thought that they would have a future together after all of this would be behind them, but once he opened his eyes and saw that that was just another more of Camille’s lies, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut anymore and he didn’t care what happened to her anymore. Unlike Camille, his heart wasn’t made purely out of stone and Alec could feel that he really felt bad that Camille had manipulated him into doing so many dirty jobs for her.

Alec huffed under his breath when he finally parked his car in front of his apartment and slowly got out, still feeling crappy about the whole thing and he headed up to his apartment after locking his car. He couldn’t do anything about the entire thing really; when it all came down to it, Chris really did kill Lydia, meaning or not. If only he would call ambulance that day instead of Camille, then Alec would be able to help him. It was weird, that man caused him so much pain in the past, but Alec didn’t like it now that the same was happening to his former boyfriend. Deep inside, he still cared for him, on his own way, no matter how fucked up it sounded and he couldn’t do anything about it. He chewed on his lower lip as he got into the elevator and before he knew it, he was already standing in front of his apartment.

Alec then opened the door of his apartment and stepped inside, his mood brightening a little bit when Chairman Meow ran up to the door once he was inside to greet him back home. Before he was able to take his jacket and shoes off, Chairman stepped in front of him and started meowing loudly, Alec grinning and he picked up the cat and gave him a little kiss on top of his head, placed his back down and got down onto his knees. “Hello, there Chairman,” said Alec and chuckled when the cat placed his paws on top of his knees and leaned up, sniffing all around his face and before Alec knew what was going on, Chairman Meow licked the tip of his nose and ran away. Alec huffed under his breath and wiped his nose. It was hilarious how fast he ran away after he would do that, because he knew far too well that Alec wasn’t a big fan of that.

Alec then made his way to the kitchen, from where he heard Magnus humming himself a melody of a song that was unknown to him, and smiled when he saw him behind the stove, cooking something, probably dinner for the two of them. Alec leaned against the door frame and noticed that Magnus’ crutches were placed far away from him. As Magnus started doing a little dance as he was chopping the vegetables, Alec couldn’t really hold back his laughter and Magnus flinched, because he was caught off guard since he was so into his cooking that he didn’t hear Alec stepping inside of the apartment before.

“Oh, God, Alexander, it’s you,” said Magnus and placed the knife down and placed his hand on top of his chest. “You scared the crap out of me,” he then added, which made Alec’s laughter grow louder and Magnus narrowed his eyes.

“Hello to you too, Magnus,” said Alec and as he wanted to go closer to the other, Magnus signed him to stay there. “What?” asked Alec and cocked his head to the side.

“Stay there. Let me come to you,” said Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened when Magnus walked to him without any problems – and without crutches – extending his arms out and Magnus grinned when he saw Alec and walked right into the hug, Alec’s strong arms going around him and he then wrapped his arms around Alec’s neck, pulling back a bit, so that he could look up into Alec’s eyes. “Look at me, I can walk without crutches just fine,” said Magnus and then waggled his eyebrows.

“So I’ve noticed. Wow,” said Alec, happy to see his boyfriend’s recovery going amazing. “Congratulations, I’m so happy and so proud of you,” said Alec and earned a playful punch from the older one.

“Why, thank you, darling,” said Magnus with a grin and pulled Alec down for a quick kiss and he then sighed happily when Alec pressed their foreheads. “I’ve been practicing a lot, so that I could finally show you. As you know, I’ve been at therapy today,” said Magnus and Alec nodded. Because he had to be at work very early, it was Ragnor who drove Magnus down to the hospital. “And Catarina has also been surprised when she saw me walking,” he then added, waggling his eyebrows. “I feel like I’m on the top of the world. And because I was in such a good mood afterwards, me and Cat went to the mall, where I bought things with which I’ll make us the perfect dinner,” he then added and winked. “It’s my mom’s secret recipe,” he then announced and Alec started looking around, to see if Anita was anywhere to be seen.

“Is she here now?” asked Alec and pressed his lips together. Even though Magnus’ mother was a spirit, he still wanted to meet the woman and wanted to make a good impression on her. But, so far, he didn’t have the opportunity to meet her and he pouted when Magnus shook his head.

“Not anymore,” said Magnus and smiled when he saw how disappointed the other looked. “But, she was here earlier today,” said Magnus and grinned, because he enjoyed hanging out with his mom and had somehow managed to get with the terms that one day, she would have to leave for good. But, for the time being, he allowed himself to enjoy the time he had left with the spirit of his mother. “It seems that my gift is getting… better,” said Magnus and Alec gave him a puzzled look. “I... started to hear the spirits. Well, at least my mom,” he said and Alec smiled broadly.

“Seriously? That’s amazing,” said Alec happily and Magnus slowly nodded.

“I guess so,” said Magnus and made a short pause. “Anyway, my mom told me this secret recipe for one of her most delicious dishes she used to prepare me when I was a kid, so I decided to try and make it today,” said Magnus, walking back to the counter, Alec following him and he listened to his rambling with a smile on his face.

“How can I help?” asked Alec, rolled up his sleeves, washed his hands and rubbed his palms together, ready to get some orders from the main chef of the evening.

“You can finish cutting the vegetables and I’ll get the meat ready,” said Magnus and Alec gave him a little nod, getting right into the task, Magnus feeling his heart warm up, because he always wanted this. Cooking together with his significant other gave him such a domestic feeling and he loved it. “So,” started Magnus. “How was work?”

“Oh, awful,” said Alec and stopped what he was doing, but then continued and shrugged. “I just… feel for Chris,” he said and received an odd look from Magnus. “In a sense that Camille completely played him. It really seems to me that he loves Camille, but she just ended up using him as well,” he said and made a short pause. “Plus, having to listen to their bickering the whole day… Chris accusing Camille of something… then her denying that and accusing Chris of other things. It’s just… ugh, so annoying,” said Alec and rolled his eyes. “They’re going to drive me crazy.”

“Well, they’re both horrible people. What did you expect?” said Magnus and Alec had to agree with that statement. “When’s the hearing at court?”

“Oh God… I hope that soon,” whined Alec and threw his head back, Magnus grinning and he gently bumped him with his shoulder.

“Good luck,” said Magnus, giving him a compassionate look. “Now, let’s forget about the two of them,” said Magnus and Alec quickly nodded, agreeing with him. “We have more important things to do and that is to prepare the best dinner ever,” said Magnus and Alec nodded.

“I agree. I’m all done with the vegetables, where should I put them?” asked Alec and then put them into a pan, just like Magnus had instructed him. After that, Alec had nothing else to do, so he stepped behind Magnus, wrapped his arms around him, distracting Magnus from cooking as he started planting kisses all over his neck. That was distracting Magnus to that extent that he made Alec sit on the chair and wait until the dinner was ready there. Alec kept sulking for a little while, but soon Chairman Meow hopped into his lap, keeping him company.

After the dinner was ready, Alec set the table and Magnus and he spent a wonderful evening at home. The dinner was amazing and Magnus was proud of himself and couldn’t wait until his mom would appear again, so that he could tell her that the dinner was a success. Alec, on the other hand, had the opportunity to continue what he had started before – the kissing and distracting – much later on into the evening and that time, he made sure that Magnus didn’t mind it.

* * *

It was the next day and Magnus was home alone, chilling like usual, but was slowly getting tired of just sitting around and doing nothing. He wanted to do _something_ , because just sitting around and doing nothing was driving him crazy. Besides, Alexander wasn’t going to be back home until the late hours of that afternoon and it wasn’t even noon yet. Because of that, Magnus came to a conclusion that he should do something, his eyes lighting up with idea when his eyes located his sketch book and he frowned, because he didn’t know how it would work out if he would really start working on something. Usually, he would sew at Camille’s company, where he had his own special space. However, he was sure that he would be able to make it work since he had mostly everything.

When he packed his things from Camille’s apartment, he was able to take his own trusty portable sewing machine and two of his design mannequins. He slowly made his way into the kitchen, Chairman Meow going with him and Magnus grinned when he watched the cat sitting at the door of the kitchen and was patiently waiting for him. Magnus then rolled up his sleeves and got to work; he pulled the table away from the wall, went back into the living room and took the sewing machine out from the corner, carrying it into the kitchen and then he placed it on top of the table, narrowing his eyes, thinking about the logistics of how this was going to work out for him. Alec’s kitchen was small, so there was barely any place for the mannequins, but Magnus was able to make them fit, the only thing that was missing was the rest of the work space, but then he came up to the conclusion that the coffee table in the living room and the floor would have to do just fine.

However, a bit later on, he found out that he forgot to take the most important things from Camille’s place; his fabrics and many of other utensils that were essential to sewing. Magnus was about to give up at that, but then he remembered that he could just easily go out to town, to his favourite store, to get some more materials and other things that he would need. A little grin spread across Magnus’ face and after he studied his sketches to see what things he needed the most and after he was sure that he knew what he would have to purchase, he changed his clothes and took in a deep breath as he got himself mentally prepared for what he was about to do; leave the apartment, without anyone else, only him, and without crutches, for the first time after his accident. However, he was sure he would be able to do it; it would just be a short trip down to downtown with an Uber he called for himself a few minutes ago. Magnus liked challenging himself so he was sure that he would do just fine.

“Okay, it’s time to go,” said Magnus to himself and then looked back at Chairman, who was walking him to the door and chuckled, got down onto his knees slowly and picked up the cat and nuzzled against his head so much that Chairman had to put a paw on top of Magnus’ forehead to stop it. Chairman Meow loved the attention, but sometimes, Magnus’ attention was too much even for him. “Now you be a good boy and look after the apartment while I’m gone, okay?” asked Magnus and Chairman Meow gave him a quiet meow as a reply, Magnus smiling, scratching him behind his ear, before he placed the cat down onto the floor, stepped out of the apartment, locked it and went into the elevator.

Magnus felt his heart beating a bit faster when he stepped outside the building and he slowly made his way to the car, which was waiting for him and with his shaky fingers opened the door and painfully slowly sat inside of it. Now, he was okay if the car was driving someone that he personally knew, but when it came to a stranger driving a car, Magnus was still vary about the cars and traffic in general since his accident. He wondered if there would be a day when he would be comfortable enough to drive a car himself. For the time being, that still seemed too big of a challenge. Magnus shook his head and then told the driver the exact location of the store he wanted to visit and half an hour later, he was already there.

The way to the store lasted way too long for Magnus’ liking and he got the hell out of the car as soon as it was possible and quickly made his way to the store, a little smile spreading across his face when  he opened the door and stepped inside. Since he came to the store very often before his accident, he was a regular there and most of the people that worked in there already knew him and were beyond happy to see him there. Magnus was happy as well, it felt good coming back to a place that was like a home to him and after spending about two hours in that store – because Lord knew that Magnus couldn’t really help himself – Magnus bought all that he needed. Well, in fact, he bought more than he needed, but he couldn’t really help himself. However, he was still careful enough not to buy too much; he still needed to make his way back home, his hands full of bags filled with fabric, other materials and things that he needed.

About half an hour later and Magnus was already back at the apartment and was feeling completely exhausted after carrying everything back to the apartment, but at the same time, he felt happy. And proud. He was happy and proud of himself that he was brave enough to leave the apartment all on his own and he felt unstoppable. He found Chairman sleeping on the couch and didn’t even bother coming to the door to greet him coming back home. Magnus pouted and sat next to his cat, who let out an annoyed meow when he was picked up and woken up from his peaceful slumber.

“Aw, how come you always go greet Alexander when he comes back home, but not me,” whined Magnus and grinned when Chairman struggled to get away and he let out an overdramatic sigh. “Fine, fine, be a grumpy cat and go. See, this grumpiness is what you and Alec have in common, so maybe that’s why you two got along so well so quickly,” said Magnus and then after a while went to work, deciding to start working on a short cocktail dress that he designed when he was still at the hospital with the help of Marissa. It made him wonder, where was she these days? She was so busy running around with Simon that she rarely paid him and Alec a visit, which was a pity, because Magnus wanted her to see him work. But then again, he could surprise her later on with some pieces from his newest collection after he’d be done with them.

So, the thing he decided to start working on was a beautiful navy blue satin cocktail dress, with a scoop lace neck and a stunning lace up on the back of it. After doing all of the measurements, Magnus got to work and spent the entire afternoon working on that dress. In the meantime, he just made a quick break in between to eat a quick lunch, which he ordered himself and then went straight back to work. By the time Alec got back from work, some of the dress was already hanging on the mannequin, Magnus watching in with pride in his eyes and he let out a little sigh, because he felt beyond tired, but he didn’t care and as he was about to go back to work, he heard the door opening and his eyes widened when he looked around the living room, which was a mess. Well, the kitchen didn’t look any better either and his stomach dropped, wondering if Alec was gonna be annoyed by the mess he made.

There were different kinds of fabrics laying all around the couch and the floor, while the coffee table was filled with papers, which helped Magnus with measurements. The kitchen, on the other hand, was another story. Pieces of fabric were laying all over the floor, the table was completely occupied and Magnus let out a nervous laughter. Okay, Alexander might be slightly annoyed when he would see all of that.

Alec came beyond annoyed back at home that day, because another long day was behind him and all that he wanted to do was to curl up next to Magnus and not leave his side never again. However, there was quite a surprise waiting for him when he stepped inside of the apartment. His eyes widened when he stepped inside of the living room, jaw dropping, because he didn’t know what to think about the whole scene in front of his eyes. His couch was completely covered with fabrics and he almost jumped when he saw the state of his coffee table. He slowly peeked inside of the kitchen and saw Magnus was in a hurry to tidy things up, because the real mess was in the kitchen and Alec’s expression softened up when he looked up at the mannequin and saw that Magnus must’ve started on his collection, annoyance of the fact that the apartment was in a complete chaos no longer bothering him.

“Magnus, it’s okay. You don’t have to be in such a hurry to tidy up. You’ll need most of this stuff for tomorrow, so just leave it,” said Alec when he saw Magnus on the floor, on all of his fours. That made Magnus drop whatever he was holding and he looked into Alec’s direction and shook his head. “What?” asked Alec and cocked his head to the side.

“You’re way too nice,” said Magnus and shook his head, but then ended up picking up what was on the floor and he threw it into the trash and only then got onto his legs and went to Alec, who was waiting for him outside the kitchen. “And I’ll get to cleaning up the living room in a second, don’t worry,” said Magnus and Alec shook his head, hugged his face and pulled him closer to kiss him gently.

“Leave it be,” muttered Alec and shrugged. “I don’t mind it, I told you that before, didn’t I?” asked Alec and shrugged, looking at the mannequin again and he smiled. “So, you’re working on that cocktail dress?” asked Alec and Magnus perked up when Alec showed interest in his design, eagerly nodding and he sighed happily.

“Yeah,” said Magnus. “I know that so far it doesn’t look anything special, but once I’m gonna be done with it, it’s gonna look _amazing,_ ” said Magnus, his eyes sparkling and he sighed happily as he watched his work in progress and then made his way to the living room with Alec, who quickly pushed the fabric on one side of the couch, so that the two of them had the space to sit there together.

“I know it’s gonna look amazing,” said Alec after a while. “One question though, where did you get all this stuff from?” asked Alec.

“I bought it,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows. “Yes, I went downtown today… all on my own. I called an Uber and went shopping,” said Magnus happily. “And one more thing, I didn’t use crutches again. I managed to walk all on my own for the entire time. It’s true that my legs hurt like hell now, but I don’t care, because it was so worth it,” said Magnus and leaned against Alec.

“Seriously?” asked Alec and hugged Magnus’ face, who just nuzzled into the touch, beaming up at Alec as he nodded. “That’s great, I’m so proud of you. You’re doing amazing, I mean wow,” went on by saying Alec and Magnus felt his cheeks warming up at the compliment, but it was true. He really was amazing for what he was able to achieve that day.

“Thank you for being so supportive, angel,” whispered Magnus and leaned closer to kiss his boyfriend. "But I do promise to find a space somewhere to design, so that I won’t turn this apartment into such a mess permanently. I’ll ask Ragnor tomorrow if he has some room at his company, so I’ll go and create there," said Magnus and Alec shrugged.

“I don’t mind you turning this place into chaos,” said Alec. “Since it’s gonna be a fabulous chaos, then I think I’m good with that,” teased Alec and Magnus shook his head.

“Right,” said Magnus with a chuckle. “And how was your day?”

“Ugh, don’t ask… Camille… Chris… bla bla… pain in the ass,” blurted out Alec and rolled his eyes, Magnus bursting into loud laughter. “I don’t really want to talk about it,” said Alec and wrapped his arms around Magnus, hiding his face into the crook of his neck. “Magnus,” whined Alec and Magnus arched an eyebrow. “Make me forget about today’s work,” he then added and Magnus chuckled.

“Aw, you poor little thing, come to me,” said Magnus and Alec looked up at him. “I know of a _wonderful_ way to make you forget about today,” said Magnus with a grin and then climbed on top of Alec, his loud laughter filling the apartment as Alec grabbed him by his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec finally gets to meet Magnus' mother. :)

Magnus was working on finishing touches of his cocktail dress that he began working on about a week ago. In a week, he was able to get a proper working space at Ragnor's company. Much to his luck, Ragnor was more than happy to give him a room so that he could create freely just as he wanted and even though Magnus didn't mind designing back at the apartment, he had to admit it that he liked it whole lot better at Ragnor's company, just because it gave him an opportunity to leave the home. Besides, being at a fashion company gave him that creative spirit that he had lacked feeling the past few months and now, he was completely back in the game and was hoping that he would be able to finish his collection by the next fashion show, which was going to happen in about a couple of months.

Plus, working at Ragnor's company gave him the opportunity to hang out with Alec’s sister and her girlfriend. Previously that day he, Izzy and Maia went out to eat lunch and now that Magnus was back in his office, he was feeling marvellous as he looked at the cocktail dress, which was all done now. He smiled with pride in his eyes and he quickly went for his phone, snapped a quick picture of the finished dress, because he wanted to show it off to Alec as soon as it was possible. He attached the picture into the text message, telling Alec that the dress was all finished now. Besides that, he asked him what he thought of the dress and how his day was going. He waited for a little bit, kind of wanting to receive a reply from Alec soon, but because he didn’t reply in a few minutes, Magnus came to the conclusion that the other was probably too busy with other things at work, maybe he was even working with Camille or Chris again.

Magnus pressed his lips together and sighed as he started thinking about the case. He knew that it was hard on Alec; while Magnus didn’t care about what happened to Camille anymore, the younger one still had some sympathy for Chris, so Magnus knew that his boyfriend must’ve felt pretty bad as he was trying to get Chris into prison. Magnus also kind of felt for the guy; he also fell for Camille’s lies and empty promises. While Chris seemed to have some human emotions, he had to wonder if Camille had any of them, because according to Alec, she had completely ignored any implications that she was ever involved with Chris, which was kind of insane to Magnus. He huffed under his breath and just hoped that this was going to be over soon since it was pretty stressful on Alec and he felt terrible when he would watch Alec coming back from work stressed as hell and each day was getting worse.

Much to Magnus’ knowledge, the date of hearing at court was already set and it was going to happen pretty soon, which was a positive thing in his opinion. He wanted to help Alec out as much as he could, but he knew that there wasn’t much that he could do. People, who were investigating the missing case of Lydia Branwell, came from Los Angeles according to Alec and were helping him with putting together a case against Chris and Camille, because they knew that things could go south really soon. With all of their evidence, they didn’t have a lot of physical evidence – the body of Lydia Branwell was in water, so all of the evidence from it had been literally cleaned off. So, Magnus could only hope and pray that everything was going to be okay.

Magnus sighed and leaned back in his chair, looking around his office and his eyes located a cup of coffee, which was probably cold by now, but he didn’t mind it one bit since he needed it. He emptied the cup pretty soon and smiled when he felt energy returning to him, rubbing his palms together and he cleared his throat as he took a look at his sketch book, thinking which piece of clothing should he start working on next. He was pretty out of shape and he knew that he needed to hurry up if he wanted to make it due to that fashion show. But at the same time, he was tired as hell and didn’t feel like creating anymore that day. His eyes went to the cocktail dress again and he just watched it from afar, a smile spreading across his face.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and rest for a little bit, shivers ran up his spine and he knew that a spirit had to be present there with him. However, because he didn’t get any hostile feelings attached to the ghost, he quite quickly calmed down and started looking around the room, a little smile returning to his lips when he saw his mother standing in the corner of the room, beyond happy to see her again. It’s been almost a week since he had last seen her and he was beginning to wonder where she had gotten off to. There was a small smile on her lips as then she appeared next to Magnus’ desk, Magnus straightening himself up in his chair.

“Mama,” said Magnus softly and the woman gave him a smile back, Magnus feeling his heart warm up and he didn’t know whether he was experiencing his own feelings or his mom’s. Probably both, because the happiness that he felt was strong and he had to chuckle. “I’ve missed you,” said Magnus after a while and Anita gave him a small nod and placed a hand on top of his head, Magnus feelings his cheeks heating up. He was an adult, but in his mother’s eyes he was still just a boy and he didn’t mind that one bit.

“I’m sorry,” said Anita, Magnus smiling when he heard his mom’s voice. The thing that he had noticed was that he was only able to hear her voice; he couldn’t hear the voices of other spirits yet, but Simon gave him a simple explanation for that; he had a special connection with Anita. She was his mother after all. “When you’re a ghost, the concept of time doesn’t really exist for you,” she said and Magnus nodded, because he knew what she meant.

“I get that,” said Magnus with a little nod and Anita cocked her head to the side, but didn’t question it. Magnus didn’t tell his mom that he used to be a ghost, he didn’t want her to worry. He told her that he had an accident, but he didn’t let her know how severe things were. “Anyway, I’m happy to see you here,” said Magnus. “How do you like this place?” he asked, because his mom’s opinion still meant the most to him.

“It looks nice,” replied Anita as she was looking around the room. “What is this place?”

“It’s my office,” said Magnus and grinned when Anita’s eyes widened. “Yeah, I started designing again. I started back at Alec’s apartment, but I transformed it into a complete chaos, so a friend of mine who owns this company allowed me to work here,” he said and looked at his mom, who looked impressed.

“You have your own office?” asked Anita. “Oh honey, I’m so proud of you,” she added and Magnus beamed with joy and he perked up when his mom appeared next to the dress on the mannequin. “So, you made this dress?”

“Yep, that’s all my work,” said Magnus and got onto his legs, slowly walking closer to his mom. “What do you think?” he asked carefully and Anita bit onto her lower lip.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed out and Magnus felt a blush coming upon his cheeks again. “You really did this all on your own?” she asked as she was still looking at the dress, going around the mannequin a few times and Magnus only nodded. “Oh, how I wish I was still among the living. Then I could try it on, because it looks stunning,” said Anita and Magnus felt a sting in his chest, but he managed to smile.

“Thank you, mama,” said Magnus and chuckled when Anita ruffled his hair and appeared then on one of the chair inside of the office, Magnus going to her.

“So…” started Anita and then made a short pause. “When will I get the opportunity to meet that charming boyfriend of yours?” she asked and caught Magnus completely off guard.

“Alexander?” asked Magnus and Anita nodded. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to introduce the two of you, but you always disappear when he’s present,” said Magnus, happy to see that his mother seemed interested to meet Alec.

“Well, I don’t want to be in a way of you two love birds,” said Anita playfully and Magnus rolled his eyes. “By the way, good catch. He’s gorgeous,” she joked and Magnus felt his cheeks flushing into much deeper shades of red and he cleared his throat.

“Mama!” stammered Magnus and Anita grinned.

“What?” asked the spirit innocently and shrugged. “By the way, he can see the spirits as well, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How lovely,” said Anita and rubbed her palms together. “We’ll be able to have a lovely little chat then,” she said and Magnus frowned.

“Chat?”

“Well, I must get to know him, right? To see if he treats you right,” said Anita and started laughing when she saw the expression on her son’s face. “Oh, relax, sweetie, I’m only teasing you,” said his mother in the end.

“Right,” said Magnus under his breath. “You’re gonna love him, because he’s amazing,” he then said and Anita smiled.

“I bet,” she said with a grin.

Anita remained hanging out around Magnus’ office for the rest of the afternoon since she had nothing better to do and Magnus didn’t mind it one bit. He loved having him mom around and he made a plan that after he would come back home, he would finally introduce Anita to Alec since that was something he was wishing to do for a while now.

* * *

When Alec came back home, Magnus was already there and he couldn’t be happier to see his boyfriend home. It was another long day at work, but that day was a bit better compared to other days since he didn’t have to deal with Chris and Camille. Before the hearing at court, which was happening soon, he wouldn’t have to deal with them again – or so he hoped – and he couldn’t be happier about that. However, he was still working on the case and was helping the detective from L.A.P.D. with putting together a solid case that would get Chris and Camille into prison as soon as possible and the judge wouldn’t be able to find any loopholes. Camille could pay him as much money as she wanted, but she wasn’t going to win that time; Alec was sure of that. Even though her stay at the prison wasn’t going to be as long as Chris’, she would still get some time for being an accomplice to the murder.

Alec narrowed his eyes when he stepped inside of the apartment and saw Chairman Meow running across the living room, stopping to look away and his eyes widened when he heard the cat hissing. Okay, something was definitely going on and he watched how the cat hid under the couch and was carefully watching around to see if something followed him there. Alec slowly closed the door and soon understood why Chairman was hiding under the couch. As soon as he stepped inside he could sense a presence of a ghost and he pressed his lips together, wondering where Magnus was since he didn’t know how comfortable the other was around spirits on his own. However, he soon saw that he had nothing to worry about, because the spirit visiting was none other than Magnus’ mother.

Alec slowly peeked inside of the kitchen and saw Magnus cooking again, grinning when he listened to the man playfully bickering with his mom, who was trying to give him better instructions with cooking the meal, but Magnus was stubborn and didn’t want to listen to her. He chuckled, because that kind of reminded him of himself and Maryse. Lately, he and his mom were able to form a better connection and with Luke around, the woman was completely changed. Once a bitter and miserable woman turned into a loving and warm mother. According to Max, who Alec was still paying a visit at least once a week, living with her and Luke had gotten a lot better and Alec was happy for his mom when he found out that Luke had asked her to marry her, his mother agreeing to it and Alec was already looking forward to the wedding. Accepting Luke into the family was a breeze, he was already like a father to him at work, so now, he was completely fine with the fact that Clary was technically going to be his little sister. Anyhow, she was already a family before.

Alec shook his head to wake himself from day dreaming about his family and he chuckled when he saw Magnus turning to his mother, rolling his eyes, Anita trying to reach for the pan, but her hand went straight to it and she let out an annoyed groan. “Look, sweetie, you have to listen to me. I said, first you have to fry the vegetables and then add-”

“Mama,” groaned Magnus and narrowed his eyes. “I know what I’m doing,” he added and a little smile spread across his face. Even though he and his mom were bickering at the moment, he loved every second of it. It felt like he was a little kid again; they would always bicker when Magnus would try to help his mom with cooking as a child and now that it was happening again, it brought back so many wonderful memories. Usually, those were the days that his step father wasn’t at home; he would leave a lot of times for a few days to drink out with his friends and then come back home, completely wasted, taking out his aggression out on Anita or Magnus. Magnus shuddered, because those were the worst days of his life, but the days when Marten wasn’t there were the happiest.

“Did you add salt?” asked Anita, who wasn’t listening to Magnus whatsoever and Alec grinned as he continued to listen to them. Magnus was _so_ like Anita in many, many ways that it was funny. They were both pretty stubborn people. “You should add more pepper too.”

“Mama,” whined Magnus and gave her a look. “I put all of that already in,” said Magnus. “Look, I must hurry up because Alexander is going to be back at any second and I want the dinner to be done by then,” said Magnus and Alec’s chuckle made him turn around and Magnus sighed when he saw his boyfriend standing by the door frame. “Oh, and there he is,” said Magnus, Alec acting offended.

“Is that how you say hello to me, Magnus?” asked Alec. “After the entire day of _hard_ work, I come here and that’s all I get as a hello?” asked the detective with a smile, making a grin appear on Magnus’ face and he just shrugged.

“Of course I’m happy to see you, silly,” said Magnus and signed Alec to come closer and both of them chuckled as they kissed. “But I must say that you’re developing quite a kink… staring at me without my knowledge? I didn’t know you were into stalking, my dear Alexander,” commented Magnus and Alec felt his cheeks reddening when he remembered that Magnus’ mom was still in the room.

“Magnus, your mother is still here,” whispered Alec and Magnus grinned as he looked at Anita.

“Oh don’t mind me, boys,” said the woman and appeared by the door, wanting to give Magnus and Alec some alone time, thinking that she was in a way. However, as she was about to disappear through the door, Magnus acted quickly and stopped Anita from leaving, because he really wanted her to meet Alec properly.

“Mama, wait,” said Magnus and Anita turned around. “Please, I want you to meet Alexander,” said Magnus and Alec felt his heart making a little jump when Magnus said that and he quickly straightened himself up as the spirit came closer to the two of them again and Alec gave her a little shy smile as he was standing behind Magnus.

“Alec, it’s my pleasure,” said Anita happily and appeared right in front of Alec, who let out a nervous laughter and nodded then.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Miss Kikkert,” said Alec politely.

“Oh, drop the formalities, boy,” said Anita and gave him a little wink. “Just call me Anita,” she then added and Alec nodded.

“So…” started Alec.

“So, how about you two get better acquainted in the living room while I continue with the dinner? It shouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes and it’ll be done,” said Magnus, because he wanted to cook in peace.

“Oh, sweetie, we can be here and-”

“Alexander, take my mom out of there,” whispered Magnus into Alec’s ear, who only grinned and nodded.

“Okay,” said Alec and signed Anita to come with him.

“You know, if I didn’t know you better, I’d think that you’re trying to get rid of me,” said Anita playfully to Magnus, but in the end followed Alec into the living room. When Magnus was finally alone, he let out a deep breath, rolled up his sleeves and then got back to work, without any interruptions that time.

Just as Alec and Anita stepped inside of the living room, Chairman Meow hissed and quickly ran out from the room, finding a new hiding spot under the bed and Anita let out a little disappointed sigh. “That cat hates me,” she said and sat next to Alec, who was sitting on the couch, Alec giving her a compassionate look.

“Animals are usually very sensitive to the spirits,” said Alec and shrugged.

“Oh,” said the woman and made a short pause. In the meantime, Alec kept looking around the room and was thinking of something good to start the conversation, but he didn’t know what to say. Like always, he was bad at meeting new people, so in the end, he just sat there on the couch and felt awkward. “You don’t have to look so nervous,” suddenly said Anita and Alec looked at her.

“Oh, I’m not… I’m just not very good and meeting new people,” said Alec slowly and Anita gave him a little nod. “And I really want you to like me, so I guess that’s a pressure as well,” he then added and let out a nervous laughter.

“Well, you worry way too much,” said Anita with a smile. “I like you a lot already. My son told me a lot about you and all I’ve heard so far are good things. You make my boy happy and that’s what all that matters,” said Anita and Alec felt his cheeks heating up. “Plus, you’re a real catch, so what’s there not to like?” she added playfully and Alec soon found out where Magnus got his playful and flirty side from, smiling at that.

“Oh, um, thank you,” said Alec. “And I also heard only good things about you, so I think we’ll get along just fine,” he then added with a smile, Anita smiling as well.

The two of them continued talking about some random things, Alec learning that Anita was originally from Indonesia, but came to the United States when she was just a little girl. She also told him many embarrassing stories of Magnus when he was still a little kid and Alec’s cheeks were hurting from smiling too much, but he couldn’t help himself really. Hearing all of that made him fall in love with Magnus even more, if that was even possible. Anita’s and Magnus’ relationship was something precious, Alec could see that very well and he was happy that they were able to find each other after years of being apart. The only thing that saddened Alec was that he knew that it wasn’t going to last. Anita would have to move on, cross over at some point, but for the time being, he managed to push those feelings away and focus on present moment, laughing when Anita told him that little Magnus had tendency to sneak sweets into his room and he cold already imagine it.

When Magnus was done with the dinner, he carefully went into the living room and narrowed his eyes when he heard Alec’s loud laughter and he could only wonder what kind of embarrassing things Anita was telling to Alec now, but he did nothing to stop his mother. He listened to her rambling at the door for a few moments and his smile widened, because that was something that he kind of wished he could have; two people that meant the most to him together in one room having fun. He bit into his lower lip and after a while finally decided that Alec had enough fun, so he stepped inside and announced that the dinner was ready.

“Dinner’s ready,” said Magnus and went into the living room, hopping on the couch himself as well, to the other side of Alec, who smiled at him. “It’s nice to see the two of you getting along,” said Magnus then with a smile and Anita grinned.

“Well, of course,” said Anita. “Alec is charming,” she said and winked, making Magnus blush with her comment and Alec hummed in amusement. It was kind of interesting to see Magnus being that shy and he kissed his temple, Anita quickly disappearing into the kitchen, to look at what her son had prepared, while Magnus and Alec sat in the living room for a few more minutes.

“Your mom’s amazing,” said Alec with a smile.

“I know, right?” asked Magnus and waggled his eyebrows, placing his head on top of Alec’s shoulder. “I’m really happy, you know. I’ve always wanted you to meet my mom and I’m beyond happy that I got that chance, no matter what circumstances. Plus, I’m so happy that you like her and that she likes you back,” said Magnus, Alec smiling above Magnus. He then gently placed his fingers under Magnus’ chin and lifted his head up, so that he could kiss his boyfriend and Magnus happily hummed into the sweet kisses. “What was that for?” asked Magnus as he pulled back.

“I’m happy as well,” said Alec simply and shrugged.

“I’m glad,” said Magnus and then got onto his legs, offering a hand to Alec when he was standing up, who happily took it and allowed himself to be pulled up onto his legs. “Now we better go into the kitchen as well or the food’s gonna get cold,” said Magnus and Alec gave him a little nod.

“Smells good,” said Alec and smiled. “I’m starving,” he then added and while it felt amazing coming back home to an already cooked and prepared meal, he kind of felt bad that it was always Magnus cooking. He promised to himself that the next time, he was going to be the one cooking them dinner. He had Anita on his side now, so he was bound to prepare a good meal, thought Alec and grinned.

“Me too, darling,” said Magnus and when they stepped inside of the kitchen were surprised to see that the table was already set. Anita was standing next to the table, looking proud, because it was her who set the table. Magnus thanked his mom for his help and after that, they finally got to eating the dinner, Anita being present there as well, Magnus smiling happily. Even though Anita was a spirit, it really felt like a normal family dinner, his smile widening as he watched over his mom and Alec, who were happily chatting about something. However, his smile faltered a bit when he thought about the fact that it wasn’t going to last. At some point, Anita would need to cross over and that saddened Magnus.

Then again, she didn’t have to cross over, in Magnus’ opinion. He knew that it was probably selfish to think that way, but he had just gotten his mom back and wasn’t going to let her slip away from him again. Magnus was sure that Alec would understand when he would tell him his plan, which was going to wait for some other time, his worries forgotten when he joined into the conversation the other two were currently having.


	40. Chapter 40

Alec stepped out of the court room, feeling quite positive about how things were going so far. Because Alec mentioned Camille corrupting the previous judge to the detective from Los Angeles, she decided to fly out their own judge from. Since this was originally Los Angeles Police Department’s case in made sense to Alec that they got more of their people involved and as prosecutor was making their statement and asking questions, Alec was sitting among the crowd and as he was being called out in front of the judge, he told both the prosecutors and Camille’s and Chris’ lawyers what he knew about the case and what was supporting his information that he presented the judge with.

Unlike from the previous judge, who seemed to be on Camille and Chris’ side most of the time, this one was a lot more objective and didn’t fall for Camille’s tears as she started crying at some point. Chris, on the other hand, looked completely calm and cold. He was staring blankly in front of himself and to Alec it looked like he didn’t even care what kind of results were going to be. He told the same things as he told Alec before; telling that it was all Camille’s idea and that he never meant to hurt Lydia, blaming the panic on how things turned out in the end. Alec felt his stomach dropping when he was watching Chris talk; it was painful, there was no way around it. Chris was just a shell of a man he once used to be. Alec knew why that was; Chris had just lost basically everything that he had.

Camille was claiming that Chris was just making things up and used Alec’s and Chris’ past in her favour, telling the judge that they were probably working together against her. That couldn’t be further away from the truth and that came quite quickly clear to the judge, who had been warned about what kind of person Camille was and didn’t buy her empty words and lies. Alec noticed that and Camille was slowly breaking down, her mask crumbling and deep inside Alec kind of wished that she would completely break down at the court.

That day it was third day of the on-going trial and Alec wished that things could be sped up, because even though he was feeling positive about the case, that didn’t mean that he enjoyed being there. They were done for the day, Alec slowly leaving the court room with other people, eyes going to Chris, who was being accompanied by two police officers, who were going to take him back to the prison. Alec felt his stomach dropping as his ex-boyfriend looked at him and gave him a little wink, then cursed as he was being pushed towards the door and he only rolled his eyes, but then went with the officers. Camille, on the other hand, was still free and Alec cursed, because he knew that even if she was going to be found guilty, the maximum sentence she was looking at were 15 years in prison, while Chris’ was going to be much higher.

Minimum sentence for second degree murder – which they were aiming to prove took place at the recreation resort area – were 15 years, maximum 25 to life in prison. Alec huffed under his breath and rubbed his palms together, slowly making his way out of the building and he nervously chewed on his lower lip, eyes widening in surprise when he saw Luke standing in front of the court and it was pretty obvious that he was waiting for him. Alec narrowed his eyes, because it seemed kind of strange, but he wasted no more time and he walked up to the man quickly, fearing that something might had happened to his mom or Max.

“Luke?” asked Alec as he was standing closer to the older man, who gave him a little nod and Alec cleared his throat. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong with mom?” he then asked and Luke only shook his head and gave him a warm smile, Alec’s eyes widening when Luke placed a hand on top of his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. The fact that Luke was being so chummy outside the office was still kind of new to Alec, but he remained polite and he gave Alec a puzzled look.

“Everything’s fine. Maryse and Max are doing quite okay,” said Luke and Alec nodded, but said nothing as he waited the other one to continue. “I just came to check up on you. Jace told me more about this case you’ve been working on and I realised that it must’ve been pretty hard on you. Testifying against an ex-partner is never easy. Trust me, I had to do it once and their offences weren’t even that bad. But to think that a murder is involved in your case…” started Luke and Alec gave him a little smile, feeling thankful for Luke’s concern. Unlike Robert, Luke actually cared for him and in many ways, he was more of a father to him than Robert ever was.

“Oh,” said Alec awkwardly and shrugged. “I won’t lie, it isn’t easy, but there’s nothing I can really do about it,” said Alec with a little voice and puffed his cheeks with air, calming himself down a little  bit and he looked back up at Luke.

“How’s the case going?” asked Luke carefully, but if Alec wouldn’t want to talk about it, then he would completely understand that as well.

“So far, so good. Things are looking good for us,” stammered Alec and rubbed his palms together nervously, not really wanting to talk about it. He was more eager about the case before things started going down at the court. Now, things were real and raw and Alec hated feeling like that. “I think that, um, we’ll be able to prove that Chris and Camille are guilty, so I’m feeling quite positive,” said Alec and put on a brave face in front of Luke, who sighed, because he felt for the other.

“I never had an ounce of doubt. You’re one of our best detectives after all,” said Luke and Alec gave him a weak smile, which showed Luke that he should probably change the topic of their conversation. “So, did you come down here by car?” asked Luke and Alec gave him an odd look, but shook his head in the end.

“No, I took a cab,” said Alec and narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Great,” said Luke and took car keys out of his pocket. “I’m here with my car, so why don’t I give you a ride back to the station?” asked Luke and Alec nodded, because he would like that. He used a cab down to the court, because he went with his car the first time and was so distressed after the hearing that he needed quite some time before he calmed down enough that he trusted himself he’d be able to drive the car normally.

“Sounds good,” said Alec.

“And you know what?” asked Luke. “Before we head off to the station, wanna stop for a drink?” offered Luke.

“A drink?”

“Yeah, a drink,” said Luke and made a short pause. “You deserve some time off, especially after today. Plus, that’ll give us a chance to talk and bond?” suggested Luke and Alec felt awkward again, but in the end he nodded, because some talking and bonding would do them great, especially since Luke was marrying his mother in a few months.

“Okay,” said Alec and managed a little smile. “Talking will do us both good,” said Alec and Luke smiled, happy to see that the other one agreed with him.

Before they could go to the car, Luke checked the clock on his phone and his eyes widened a bit when he saw what time it already was. “Would you mind it if we made a little stop at Max’s school? I promised Maryse to pick him up from the school today,” said Luke and Alec felt his mood brightening when Luke mentioned his little brother.

“I’d love that,” said Alec with a bright smile, because he knew for a fact that Max would be able to cheer him up unlike anyone else.

“Okay then, it’s a deal,” said Luke and started walking towards his car, Alec slowly walking behind Luke, his hands tucked in his pockets and he kept a little smile on his face as he sat inside of the car, his worries slowly forgotten once they reached Max’s school, the little boy’s happiness, when he saw both Luke and Alec picking him up from the school that day, making him even happier and his mood only got better as Luke drove the them to Max’s favourite place. Max ordered himself an ice cream – like usual – and in the end Alec succumbed to his inner child and ordered himself an ice cream as well, Luke chuckling as he watched the two of them munching on their ice creams, while he ordered himself a cup of coffee.

* * *

By the time Alec had gotten back home, Magnus was already there and was keeping himself busy with watching the TV, Chairman Meow peacefully asleep in his lap and Alec grinned when he saw the two of them. As Magnus heard the door being opened, he quickly looked around and smiled when he saw Alec stepping inside of the apartment, the younger one quickly stepping to his boyfriend as he took his jacket and shoes off, hopping on top of the couch and he placed a kiss on top of Magnus’ forehead, the other one grinning and then he turned his head around, so that he could kiss Alec properly, the other humming into their kiss and Magnus happily sighed as the two of them pulled apart.

“Hey,” said Alec and grinned when Chairman lazily opened his eyes, but wasn’t bothered to greet Alec this time and his eyes travelled back to Magnus, whose eyes were glued to the TV screen. “What time did you get back home?” he asked, because he was kind of late that day. After the ice cream with Luke and Max, they went back to Maryse’s apartment, where she was already waiting for them and Alec decided to stay there a little longer, which gave him a good chance to have a talk with his mother.

“About two hours ago,” muttered Magnus and shrugged, the TV keeping him preoccupied to be actually keeping a conversation with Alec. “You’re kind of late,” he then said as it was time for commercials and looked at Alec. “Everything okay?” asked Magnus, because he knew about the hearing, Alec giving him a call previously that day, telling him that he was feeling terrible about what was happening to Chris and he just wanted to drop everything that he had and just go over to Magnus.

“Oh, yeah, I feel better,” said Alec with a little smile and he shrugged. “After the hearing, Luke waited for me outside the court and we… hung out for a little bit,” said Alec. “We went to pick up Max from school and then Luke took us out for drinks. After that, I decided to pay my mom a visit as well, so that’s why I’m a bit late today,” explained Alec and Magnus nodded, smiling when he heard that Alec was feeling better.

“Well, I’m glad that you feel better,” said Magnus and wrapped his arms around Alec, pulling him closer to himself and Alec smiled when he felt Magnus’ lips on top of his head. “I know that this case is taking a huge toll on you, so please… if there’s any way I can make you feel better, don’t hesitate to let me know, okay?” asked Magnus and Alec nodded, but then kept quiet, because there wasn’t a lot Magnus could do about it.

“That’s okay,” said Alec and leaned against Magnus as the other buried his fingers into his hair and started slowly massaging his scalp, his fingers working like magic, soothing, slowly wiping away the rest of worries that were on his mind and soon, he felt as light as a feather and he grinned when he opened his eyes, Magnus watching over him and the older one kissed the tip of his nose, then quickly turning his head back to the TV when commercial break was over. “What are you watching?”

“America’s next top model,” said Magnus, whose eyes were literally shining and Alec groaned, because even though he never watched the show, he already knew that he didn’t like it. Izzy used to be a huge fan of it in her teen years and Alec narrowed his eyes as he kept watching for a minute or so and he rolled his eyes, because two of the girls – well, models – were currently in a middle of a fight and he groaned loudly, because he hated reality TV like this. He didn’t get the appeal of it and just as he was about to complain, the camera travelled to one of the guys sitting close to the two girls and Alec’s attention was immediately caught.

“Oh, he’s hot,” blurted out Alec and Magnus burst into loud laughter.

“I know, right?” asked Magnus, who had the same opinion as Alec.

“Yeah,” muttered Alec and narrowed his eyes as he kept looking at the guy for a few more moments, looking over at Magnus and he grinned. “But he has nothing on you. If you were in the show, you would sweep away with all of the competition,” said Alec and Magnus’ laughter had gotten even louder, but he wasn’t going to protest, Alec’s little compliment warming his heart.

“Why, thank you, Alexander,” said Magnus and the two of them continued watching the rest of the show in silence, Alec bored of it quite quickly, but he kept silent, already having an idea why Magnus liked the show so much.

“You know, I know why you like this show so much,” said Alec and Magnus arched an eyebrow. “It’s just a bunch of really good looking people packed in the same house and doing some photo shootings,” said Alec and shook his head. “No wonder you like it so much,” said Alec playfully, who was now just messing around.

“It’s a show about fashion, Alexander,” said Magnus and shook his head. “I enjoy watching the outfits they make them wear and here and there I might get an inspiration,” said Magnus and folded his arms on top of his chest when he saw Alec’s smug look.

“Oh, of course,” said Alec with a grin. “But a house full of eye-candies gives you a bit more of motivation,” added Alec and Magnus was about to say something to defend himself, but then just gave Alec’s shoulder a light punch when he saw that the other was just messing around with him. After a few more minutes, the show had ended and Alec couldn’t be happier about it, because Magnus finally decided to grace him with his presence again.

“And how was your day?” asked Alec.

“Good. I managed to finish that skirt I’ve been telling you about,” said Magnus and let out a happy sigh. “Mom visited me at work again, so there’s that,” he added and smiled when he remembered hanging out with his mom earlier that day. “I thought she would follow me back home, but apparently, she had other plans,” he said and shrugged. “Anyway, my day was pretty good, nothing special I should say.”

“Oh, that’s great,” said Alec when he heard the good news about Magnus finishing up with the skirt and he then nodded, because it was kind of a pity that Anita wasn’t there with them. He quite liked Magnus’ mom, so he wouldn’t spending time with her. He was soon remembered about the promise that Magnus gave to his mom – that he was going to help her with crossing over – and Alec felt a stab of guilt at his heart, because he was too busy with the current case and had completely forgotten about that. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been paying more attention to her,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a puzzled look. “Your mom, I promised her to cross over. But this case is keeping me busy.”

Magnus felt his stomach dropping when Alec mentioned that and even though he was the one that gave his mom a promise that Alec would help her get into the light, he didn’t feel the same anymore. “Don’t worry, Alexander, we’ll get to that,” said Magnus and kept silent for a moment or so, until the uneasiness got the best of him and decided to start the conversation about it anyway. “What would happen with a spirit that doesn’t cross over? I mean, if they decide to stay on this side,” said Magnus slowly and Alec narrowed his eyes.

“I’m not sure,” said Alec. “Simon’s the guy you should be asking about this,” he added and then pressed his lips together. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking,” stammered Magnus. “Mom has been looking for me for over ten years and now she finally found me,” said Magnus, Alec slowly getting the idea of where this was leading to. “And, well, wouldn’t it be a shame if she left already? I-I know that it’s a selfish thing, but, I’m sure she feels the same, she would love to stay around for a little while. Better yet, she could be around for good and that way, I could-”

“Magnus,” said Alec, interrupting him. “Spirits don’t belong here. They need to cross over,” said Alec and Magnus felt his stomach dropping again, his heart beating faster and he was kind of surprised that Alec wasn’t on the same page as him. “I get that you missed your mom, but she needs to cross over. It’s the right thing to do. Keeping her here wouldn’t do anyone any good,” explained it to him Alec, hoping that Magnus understood him. The detective knew what Magnus meant, but he was trying to be rational. Keeping Anita on this side wasn’t healthy for Magnus in the long run. At the end of the day, she was dead. Alec felt his heart shaking as Magnus looked down, looking away from him.

“You don’t understand, Alexander,” said Magnus stiffly. “I just got her back and-”

“Magnus, she’s dead,” said Alec and Magnus looked at him angrily.

“I know that!” snapped Magnus and Alec flinched, because that was the first time that Magnus yelled at him. “It’s just… unfair, okay?” whispered Magnus and looked back down. “I don’t want her to leave,” he said, his voice shaking. “Why can’t I be selfish for once and keep her by my side? All had been taken away from me so many times and I can’t handle her leaving again. I just can’t.”

“Look,” said Alec softly and placed a hand on top of Magnus. “I know how tough this must be on you, but you need to think about your mother as well. When she’s with you, she’s completely fine and normal, I get that. But, where is she now?” asked Alec and Magnus frowned. “She might be… reliving her last day, maybe stuck in her memories, visions. And that’s a terrible, horrible thing,” said Alec, Magnus pressing his lips together in anger.

“But she’s the only family I have left!” said Magnus much louder than he intended and Alec’s eyes widened.

“Aren’t I fit enough to be your new family?” whispered Alec, his voice small and Magnus looked at him.

“It’s not the same, Alexander. I love you, you know how much you mean to me, but-”

“But?” asked Alec.

“She’s my _mother,_ ” said Magnus through his teeth, annoyed that Alec wasn’t getting the entire picture. Alec had all of his family with him so far and Magnus had no one. Yes, Alec and his family members and friends were his new family, but was it really that horrible to wish to be with his own mother? In Magnus’ opinion that was completely normal and in angered him that Alec didn’t agree.

“I get that,” tried Alec again. “But, don’t you want her to be happy?”

Magnus felt his eyes burning with tears, but he managed to swallow them back and he looked up at Alec, no longer angry. Of course he wanted his mom to be happy and not suffer. Having to relive your last day over and over again was horrible, he experienced it first-hand. But, he was just tired of losing people that he loved. Why did he always have to put others before himself? What about him? And his happiness? Yes, he was happy with Alec, beyond happy and he never felt so love before. But to think that he just got his mom back…

“What about me?” asked Magnus, biting on his lower trembling lip and he cursed mentally. “Of course I want my mom to be happy, but what about me? Why do people always walk out of my life? I’ve lost so much already,” he said and Alec felt his heart breaking when he saw new tears welling in Magnus’ eyes.

“Hey, hey, look at me,” said Alec and gently cradled Magnus’ face, lifting his gaze up and let out a hitched breath. “I’m not going anywhere, I’m here to stay forever. I’d be a fool to ever walk out of your life,” he said softly and Magnus closed his eyes, tears wetting his face and Alec pressed their foreheads together. “I mean it Magnus, I’m going to be with you until we’re both very old. You’ll never be able to get rid of me. In the end, you’re gonna be sick of me, that’s how much I’m planning to stick with you.”

Alec’s words made Magnus chuckle a bit and he leaned into the warmth of Alec’s palms, letting out a small sigh. “No matter how much you plan to bother me, I’ll never get sick of you,” said Magnus with a chuckle and then started wiping away his tears.

Alec smiled at that as well. “It’ll take some time before this trial is over,” said Alec, knowing that it would take some time. “And until it won’t be over, I probably won’t have time to help Anita, so you still have some time to spend with her,” said Alec, biting into his lower lip. “Plus, it’ll take some time to figure out her unfinished business as well,” he added and that seemed to cheer Magnus up. “So, you see… we’ll still have plenty of time to spend with her.”

“We?” asked Magnus with a smile.

“But of course,” said Alec. “I plan to get to know my future mother in law as much as I can,” blurted out the detective and Magnus’ heart melted right there at the spot.

“Future mother in law?” asked Magnus and chuckled.

“Well, I’m planning to marry you in the future, for sure,” said Alec, confident and he waggled his eyebrows, happy to see a smile on Magnus’ face and he pressed another kiss on top of his cheek. Magnus said nothing more, but he closed his eyes as Alec pressed their lips together and even though his heart still felt heavy because he would have to say goodbye to his mother one day, he felt a bit better now that he had a talk about it with Alec, smiling as suddenly Chairman Meow woke up and stepped in between them, lifting himself up as he placed paws on top of Magnus’ chest, wanting some of the affection as well, but as Magnus wanted to pick him up and smother him with kisses, he ran to Alec side and purred happily and Alec kissed his hand, then turned him around and started petting his belly, Magnus grinning as he watched the other two.

Yes, even though his mom wasn’t going to be around for much longer, his future was looking very bright.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> Comments and opinions are welcomed :)
> 
> Come follow me on [Tumblr](http://katychan666.tumblr.com/) if you'd like ^^


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